A Library Of Wonders And Curiosities Found In Nature And Art, Science And Literature | I. Platt

The present work not only embraces the Curiosities of human nature, but of Nature and Art in general, as well as Science and Literature. Surrounded with wonders, and lost in admiration, the inquisitive mind of man is ever anxious to know the hidden springs that put these wonders in motion; he eagerly inquires for some one to take him by the hand and explain to him the curiosities of the universe. And though the works of nature are great, and past finding out, and we cannot arrive at the perfection of science, nor discover the secret impulses which nature obeys, yet can we by reading, study, and investigation dissipate much of the darkness in which we are enveloped, and dive far beyond the surface of this multifarious scene of things. The noblest employment of the human understanding is to contemplate the works of the great Creator of the boundless universe, and to trace the marks of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness throughout the whole.

Title	A Library Of Wonders And Curiosities Found In Nature And Art, Science And Literature
Author	I. Platt
Publisher	John B. Alden
Year	1884
Copyright	1884, I. Platt
Amazon	A library of wonders and curiosities found in nature and art, science and literature

A Library Of Wonders And Curiosities Found In Nature And Art, Science And Literature

New And Revised Edition

By I. Platt, D. D.

With Numerous Illustrations

List Of Illustrations: Face Page Muscles of the Human Body, Profile View, 18 Muscles of the Human Body, Back View, . 19 Daniel Lambert and George Morland, . 42 Indian Chief, Black Buffalo, . . .43 Fear.......82 Dan...

Introduction: It was well observed by Lord Bacon, that It would much conduce to the magnanimity and honour of man, if a collection were made of the extraordinaries of human nature, principally out of the reports o...

Curiosities Respecting Man: The Human Body - the Countenance - the Eye - the Ear - the Hear - the Circulation of the Blood - Respiration - the Hair of the Head - the Beard - Women with Beards - Sneezing. Come, gentle reader,...

One Superiority In The Natural Machine Is Peculiarly Striking: In machines of human contrivance or art, there is no internal power, no principle in the machine itself, by which it can alter and accommodate itself to injury which it may suffer, or make up any inju...

The Curiosities Of The Human Countenance: On this subject we shall derive considerable assistance from the same German philosopher that was quoted in the last section. Indeed, we shall make a liberal use of Sturm's Reflections in our delineat...

The Eye: The next subject is, The Curious Formation of the Eye. - The Eye infinitely surpasses all the works of man's industry. Its structure is one of the most wonderful things the human understanding can bec...

The Ear: The next subject is, The Curious Structure of the Ear. The channel'd ear, with many a winding maze, How artfully perplex'd, to catch the sound. And from her repercussive caves augment! Bally....

The Blood: We now proceed to a more particular description of The Curiosities of the Human Heart; and the Circulation of the Blood. ---------Though no shining sun, nor twinkling star Bedeck'd the crimson c...

Respiration. The Act of Breathing: We now proceed to some Curious and Interesting Facts concerning Respiration, or the Act of Breathing. Anatomists have, not unaptly, compared the lungs to a sponge; containing, like it, a great numb...

The Hair: The next Subject of Curiosity we shall consider, is, The Hair of the Head. If we consider the curious structure, and different uses of the hair of our heads, we shall find them very well worth our ...

The Beard: We shall, in the next place, call the reader's attention to some Curious Remarks concerning the Beard. A beard gives to the countenance a rough and fierce air suited to the manners of a rough and f...

Sneezing: We shall close this chapter with some curious observations ON Sneezing. The practice of saluting the person who sneezed existed in Africa, among nations unknown to the Greeks and Romans. Strada, in...

Chap. II: Difference between the Sexes - Comparative Number of the sexes at a Birth - Extraordinary Instances of Rapid Growth - Daniel Lambert - Giants-Dwarfs-Kimos- Curious Account of the Abderites - Account o...

Difference between the Sexes: O woman, lovely woman! Nature made you To temper man!-----------------Angels are painted fair to look like you. There's in you all that we believe of heav'n, Amazing brightness, purity, and t...

The Comparative Number of the Sexes at a Birth: The following is a very curious calculation of The Comparative Number of the Sexes at a Birth. The celebrated M. Hufeland, of Berlin, has inserted in his Journal of Practical Medicine, some interes...

Extraordinary Instances of Rapid Growth: We now proceed to narrate some Extraordinary Instances of Rapid Growth. A remarkable instance of rapid growth in the human species was noticed in France, in 1729, by the Academy of Sciences. It was...

Daniel Lambert, the Fat Man: Daniel Lambert, the Fat Man. - This prodigy of corpulence, or obesity, was born at Leicester, March 13, 1770. He became keeper of the prison in his native town. He first went to London for exhibition,...

Dwarfs: No less true than remarkable is the following; Curious Account of Dwarfs. Jeffery Hudson, the famous English dwarf, was born at Oakham in Rutlandshire, in 1619; and about the age of seven or eight,...

Dwarfs. Continued: The following account of & singular nation of dwarfs, is taken from the Monthly Review for 1792, being Vol. 7, of the new series. The subject is a review of A Voyage to Ma-dagascar; by the Abbe Rocho...

The Abderites or Inhabitants of Abdera: Respectable historians have presented us with the following curious account of the Abderites or Inhabitants of Abdera. It is reported, that in the reign of Cassander, king of Ma-cedon, they were so...

Habitants Of Which Reside In Trees: A most respectable writer (Madame De Genlis) has given us the following curious account of a Country, the In Habitants Of Which Reside In Trees. A young Spanish adventurer, of the name of Vasco Nug...

Chap. III: Astonishing Acquisitions made by Blind Persons - Wonderful Performances of a Female, blind almost from infancy - Wonderful Instances of Adroitness of Persons born defective in their Limbs - Curious Ac...

Astonishing Acquisitions Made By Blind Persons: We find various recompenses for blindness, or substitutes for the use of the eyes, in the wonderful sagacity of many blind persons, recited by Zahnius, in his Oculus Artificialis,' and others. In some...

Astonishing Acquisitions Made By Blind Persons. Part 2: Sculpture and painting are arts which, one would imagine, are of very difficult and almost impracticable attainment to blind persons ; and yet instances occur, which show, that they are not excluded f...

Astonishing Acquisitions Made By Blind Persons. Part 3: In the same period flourished Caspar Crumbhom, blind from the third year of his age; yet he composed several pieces in many parts with so much success, and performed both upon the flute and violin so ...

Wonderful Performances of a Female, Blind Almost From Infancy: Diderot gives a very curious account of a blind lady, It is so remarkable, that we shall distinguish it by the separate title of Wonderful Performances of a Female, Blind Almost From Infancy. The n...

Wonderful Instances of Adroitness of Persons Born Defective In Their Limbs: We now proceed to detail the following Wonderful Instances of Adroitness of Persons born defective in their Limbs. Several instances of such births have occurred, and the wonderful acquirements of ...

Curious Account Of Incapacity Of Distinguishing Colours: While some persons are noted for their extraordinary and wonderful faculties, others are remarkable for defects in natural capacities. The reader will feel interested in the following Curious Account ...

Ventriloquism: We now proceed to the consideration of a very remarkable acquirement of man, called Ventriloquism. This is an art of speaking, by means of which the human voice and other sounds are rendered audibl...

Sword-swallowing: Another very extraordinary acquirement, and which the pre sent writer has been witness to, is, Sword-swallowing. This surprising act is performed by the Indian Jugglers; the following account of wh...

Indian Jugglers: Indian Jugglers; (see pages 62 and 63.) - The Indian jugglers, who exhibited in London from 1810 to 1815, performed such astonishing feats, that it would appear to require a long life, spent in incess...

Chap. IV: Extraordinary Fasting - Wonders of Abstinence - Sleep-walking-Sleeping Woman of Dunninald - Instances of Extraordmary Dreams - Poetical, Grammatical, and Scientific Deaths - Anthropophagi, or Men-Eate...

Extraordinary Instances of Fasting: A full account of a very uncommon case is given in the Phil. Trans, vol. Ixvii. part I. Janet M'Leod, an inhabitant in the parish of Kincardine, in Ross-shire, continued healthy till she was fifteen y...

The Wonders of Abstinence: At the same time that we should guard against superstitious fasting, we should be cautious not to transgress the bounds of temperance. Occasional abstinence is useful and praiseworthy, and we shall no...

Sleep Walking: We shall next offer the reader a few remarks on Sleep Walking. Many instances are related of persons who were addicted to this practice. A very remarkable one has been published from a report made ...

A Curious Account of the Sleeping Woman of Dunninald: Our next article is, A Curious Account of the Sleeping Woman of Dunninald, near Montrose. The following narrative was communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, by Dr. Brewster. Margaret Ly...

Instances Of Extraordinary Dreams: We shall proceed to some Instances of Extraordinary Dreams. The following account is by no means intended either to restore the reign of superstition, or to induce the reader to put faith in the nu...

Poetical, Grammatical, and Scientific Deaths: The Emperor Adrian, dying, made that celebrated address to his soul, which is so happily translated by Pope, in the following words: Vital spark of heav'nly flame, Quit, oh quit this mortal frame. ...

Anthropophagi, or Men-eaters: The following article is not of a pleasing description, but nevertheless proper to be inserted in The Book of Curiosities. It is Anthropophagi, or Men-eaters : The Cyclops, the Lestrygons, and Sc...

a Wild Man: We shall conclude this chapter with An Account of a Wild Man, given by M. LeRoy. In 1774, a wild man was discovered in the neighbourhood of Yuary. This man, who inhabited the rocks near a forest, w...

Chap. V: Striking Instances of Integrity - Shocking Instances of Ingratitude - Extraordinary Instances of Honour - Surprising Effect, of Anger - Remarkable Effects of Fright, or Terror - Notable Instance of th...

Striking Instances of Integrity: A man of integrity will never listen to any reason, or give way to any measure, or be misled by any inducement, against conscience. The inhabitants of a great town offered Mar-shal de Turenne 100,000...

Shocking Instances Of Ingratitude: Herodotus informs us, that when Xerxes, king of Persia, was at Celene, a city of Phrygia, Pythius, a Lydian, who resided there, and, next to Xerxes, was the most opulent prince of those times, enterta...

Extraordinary Instances of Honour: Our following article consists of some Extraordinary Instances of Honour. The Spanish historians relate a memorable instance of inviolable regard to the principles of honour and truth. A Spanish ca...

Surprising Effects of Anger: As it is our intention to record whatever we meet with, that is curious or wonderful, we hesitate not in inserting the following Surprising Effects of Anger Physicians and naturalists afford instan...

Remarkable Effects of Fright, or Terror: Now follows an account of some. Remarkable Effects of Fright, or Terror. Out of many instances of the fatal effects of fear, the following is selected as one of the most singular: - George Gro-chan...

The Power of Conscience: The following is a notable instance of The Power of Conscience. It is a saying, that no man ever offended his own conscience, but first or last it was revenged upon him. The power of conscience ind...

Chap VI: Remarkable Instance of Memory - Surprising Instance of Skill in Numbers - Extraordinary Arithmetical Powers of a Child - Curious Instance of Mathematical Talent-Stone Eater - Poison Eater-Bletonism-Lo...

Remarkable Instance of Memory: Whence came the active and sagacious mind, Self-conscious, and with faculties endued Of understanding, will, and memory, And reason, to distinguish true from false? ------------------Whence, but th...

Surprising Instance of Skill in Numbers: The following is a very Surprising Instance of Skill in Numbers. Jedidiah Buxton, was a prodigy, with respect to skill in numbers. His father, William Buxton, was schoolmaster of the parish where h...

Extraordinary Arithmetical Powers of a Child: The following account of the Extraordinary Arithmetical Powers of a Child, is extracted from the Annual Register of 1812. It is entitled, Some Particulars respecting the Arithmetical Powers of Zerah C...

Extraordinary Arithmetical Powers of a Child. Continued: It was the wish of the gentlemen present, to obtain a knowledge of the method by which the child was enabled to answer, with so much facility and correctness, the questions thus put to him; but to al...

Curious Instance of Mathematical Talent: A singular instance of early mathematical talent has been made known by Mr. Gough, in the Philosophical Magazine.- Thomas Gasking, the son of a journeyman shoemaker of Penrith, was but nine years of a...

a Stone Eater: The following remarkable account of a Stone Eater, 10 given as a fact in several respectable works. In 1760, was brought to Avignon, a true lithophagus, or stone-eater. He not only swallowed flints...

a Poison Eater: The following account of a Poison Eater is said to be an undoubted fact. A man, about 106 years of age, formerly living in Constantinople, was known all over that city by the name of So-lyman, the ...

Bletonism: We now proceed to give an account of a very extraordinary faculty, entitled Bletonism. This is a faculty of perceiving and indicating subterraneous springs and currents by sensation. The term is mo...

Extraordinary Instances of Longevity: We shall conclude this chapter with some Extraordinary Instances of Longevity. In October, 1712, a prodigy is said to have appeared in France, in the person of one Nicholas Petours, who one day ent...

Combustion of the Human Body: Combustion of the Human Body, produced by the long immoderate Use of Spirituous Liquors. From the Journal de Physique, Pluviose, Year 8 : written by Pierre Aime Lair. In natural as well as civil hi...

Combustion of the Human Body. Part 2: This instance has great similarity to that related by Vicq. d'Azyr, in the bouyclopedie Methodique, under the head of Pathologic Anatomy of Man. A woman, about 50 years of age, who indulged to excess ...

Combustion of the Human Body. Part 3: To these instances, which I have multiplied to strengthen the evidence, I shall add two other facts of the same kind, published in the Journal de Medicine. The first took place at Aix, in Provence, an...

Biographical: John Elwes - Daniel Dancer -Henry Wolby - John Henley-Simon Brown, and his Curious Dedication to Queen Caroline - Edward Wortley Montague - Blaise Pascal - Old Parr - George Psalmanazar - John Case - ...

John Elwes: The family name of this extraordinary miser was Meggot, which he altered in pursuance of the will of Sir Harvey Elwes, his uncle, who left him at least £250,000, and he was possessed of nearly as much...

Daniel Dancer: Another extraordinary miser was Daniel Dancer. He was born in 1716, near Harrow, in Middlesex. In 1736 he succeeded to his family estate, which was considerable; but his fathers before him were too gr...

Henry Wolby: Another extraordinary character was Henry Wolby, Esq.- He was a native of Lincolnshire, and inherited a clear estate of more than 10001. a year. He was regularly bred at the university, studied for so...

Orator Henley: A very singular character was John Henley, M A. com monly called Orator Henley. He was born at Melton-Mow-bray,Leicestershire, in 1691. His father, the Rev. Simon Henley, and his maternal grandfather...

Simon Browne: The next character we introduce is Simon Browne, with his Curious Dedication to Queen Caroline, Simon Browne was a most extraordinary dissenting minister, and began to preach before he was twenty, ...

Edward Wortley Montague: The next curious character we shall exhibit is Edward Wortley Montague. He was son of the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montague. He passed through such various scenes, that he is well entitled to a...

Blaise Pascal: The next character that comes before us is Blaise Pascal. He was one of the sublimest geniuses the world ever produced; was born at Clermont, in Auvergne, in 1623. He never had any preceptor but his f...

Thomas, or Old Parr: The Next Is A Character Famous For Longevity - Thomas, or Old Parr, a remarkable Englishman, who lived in the reign of ten kings and queens. He was the son of John Parr, a husbandman, of Winnington, i...

George Psalmanazar: The next character is a noted impostor, under the assumed name of George Psalmanazar. He was a very extraordinary genius, born in France, and educated in a Jesuit's college; upon leaving which, he fel...

John Case, a Quack Doctor: The next subject is a celebrated Quack Doctor, named John Case. He was a native of Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, was a noted empyric and astrologer, and looked upon as the successor of the famous Lilly,...

John Lewis Candiac: Our next character is famous for prematurity of genius, and named John Lewis Candiac. He was born at Candiac, in the diocese of Nismes, in France, in 1719. In the cradle he distinguished his letters ;...

John Smeaton: The next character deserves to be recorded as one that was eminently useful in his day and generation. John Smeaton, born near Leeds, in 1724, was an eminent civil engineer. The strength of his unders...

George Morland: While we admire the ingenuity of the next character, we must lament that his conduct was licentious. It is the well-known George Morland, an ingenious, dissipated, and unfortunate painter. As he had n...

Christian Henry Heinecken: The next character was indeed a prodigy, that shone like a meteor, and soon vanished away. We shall introduce him under the name of Christian Henry Heinecken. He was born at Lubeck, February 6, 172...

Thomas Topham: The next character is of a different description, being famous for strength of body; he is named Thomas Topham. This person was remarkable for muscular strength. He kept a public-house at Islington...

Painter of Antiquity, Zeuxis: We shall conclude this chapter with a celebrated Painter of Antiquity, named Zeuxis. This celebrated painter flourished about 400 years B. C. He was born at Heraclea; but as there have been many ci...

Chap. IX: Nicholas Pesce Paul Scarron - Maria Gaetana Agnesi-Anna Maria Schurman - Samuel Bisset, the noted Animal Instructor - John Philip Baratier - Buonaparte. ...

Nicholas Pesce: Nicholas Pesce, the first extraordinary character we shall introduce, was a famous diver, of whom F. Kircher gives the following account. In the time of Frederick king of Sicily, (says Kircher,) live...

Paul Scarron: This famous French burlesque writer, was the son of a counsellor in parliament, and was born at Paris, about the end of 1610, or beginning of 1611. His father marrying a second wife, he was compelled ...

Maria Gaetana Agnesi: We shall now introduce two female characters of note. The first is Maria Gaetana Agnesi, a lady of extraordinary genius, and most extensive acquirements, who was born at Milan, on the 16th of May, 171...

Anna Maria Schurman: Anna Maria Schurman, the other distinguished female character, was born at Cologne, 1607, of parents sprung from noble Protestant families. From her infancy she discovered an uncommon dexterity of han...

Samuel Bisset: Samuel Bisset, the noted animal instructor, next follows.- A most singular character, famous for teaching quadrupeds to perform very remarkable actions. He was born at Perth, in 1721. He first tried h...

John Philip Baratier: The following is a surprising instance of premature genius, in the person of John Philip Baratier. A most extraordinary person, born 1721, in the margravate of Anspach, of such extraordinary powers of...

Napoleon Buonaparte: We Shall Conclude This Chapter With An Account Of The Principal Events In The Life Of Buonaparte Napoleon. Napoleon. 1769, Born at Ajaccio, Corsica, Aug. 15.- 1779, Placed at the ...

Richard Savage: Richard Savage, one of the most extraordinary characters that is to be met with in all the records of biography, was the son of Anne, countess of Macclesfield, by the earl of Rivers, according to her ...

Richard Savage. Continued: This poem had an extraordinary sale; and its appearance happening at the time when his mother was at Bath, many persons there repeated passages from it in her hearing. This was perhaps the first time ...

William Huntingdon: William Huntingdon, a very eccentric personage, who was originally a coal-heaver, and afterwards became a popular preacher of the Calvinistic persuasion. The following account, formed principally from...

William Huntingdon. Continued: I will now inform my reader of the kind providence of my God at the time of building the chapel, which I named Providence Chapel (1788); and also mention a few free-will-offerings which the people br...

Curiosities Respecting Animals: Animal Generation - Formation of Animals - Preservation of Animals - Destruction of Animals - Animal Reproductions. See, thro' this air, this ocean, and this earth, All matter quick, and burstin...

Curiosities Respecting Animals. Continued: When the tree-bug has deposited its eggs in the boughs of the fir-tree, excrescences arise, shaped like pearls. When another insect of the same species has deposited its eggs in the mouse-ear, chick-w...

On The Preservation Of Animals: With respect to the preservation of animals, it may be observed, that in tender age, while the young are unable to provide for themselves, the parent possesses the most anxious care for them. The lion...

On The Preservation Of Animals. Continued: Swine chiefly get provision by turning up the earth; for which purpose their snouts are peculiarly formed. In this employment they find succulent roots, insects, and reptiles. So various is the app...

On The Destruction Of Animals: In considering the destruction of animals, we may observe that Nature is continually operating : she produces, preserves for a time, and then destroys all her productions. Man himself is subject to th...

On The Destruction Of Animals. Continued: When the body is come to its full height, and is extend I into its just dimensions, it then also begins to receive an adui-tional bulk, which rather loads than assists it. This is formed of fat, which...

An Account Of Animal Reproductions: We shall close this chapter with an account of Animal Reproductions. Here we discover a new field of wonders, that seems entirely to contradict the principles that we had adopted concerning the for...

Chap. XIII: The Beaver, and its Habitations - The Mole - The Frog - The Toad - The Rhinoceros - Crocodiles and Alligators - Fossil Crocodile - The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus - The Marmot, or Mountain Rat, of Switz...

The Beaver: This animal was known to the ancients for its possession of that sebaceous matter called castor, secreted by two large glands near its genitals and anus, and of which each animal has about two ounces;...

The Mole: Another subject of animal curiosity is, The Mole. - This animal is about six inches in length, without the tail Its body is large and cylindrical, and its snout strong and cartilaginous. Its skin is o...

The Frog: This is an animal so well known, that it needs no description : but some of its properties are very singular. Its spring, or power of taking large leaps, is remarkably great, and it is the best swimme...

The Toad: Not Less Remarkable Is The Common Toad This is the most deformed and hideous of all animals. The body is broad, the back flat, and covered with a pimply dusky hide; the belly large, swagging, and s...

The Rhinoceros: Our next subject is an animal of great bulk, The Rhinoceros.-This quadruped is exceeded in size only by the elephant. Its usual length, not including the tail, is twelve feet, and the circumference of...

The Crocodile: This animal is a native both of Africa and Asia, but is most frequently found in the former, inhabiting its vast rivers, arid particularly the Niger and the Nile. It has occasionally been seen of the ...

The Alligator: The Alligator, or American Crocodile, has a vast mouth, furnished with sharp teeth ; from the back to the end of the tail, it is serrated ; its skin is tough and brown, and covered on the sides with t...

Fossil Crocodile: It may not be improper in this place to introduce to the reader's notice, one of the greatest curiosities of its kind, which late ages have produced; that is, a Fossil Crocodile. This is the skelet...

The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus: Our next subject is named The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus, and is a very singular quadruped, remarkable for its structure. The head is similar to that of a duck, which would lead to the supposition that...

The Marmot, or Mountain-Rat of Switzerland: We shall close this chapter with an account of The Marmot, or Mountain-Rat of Switzerland. - This rat is almost the size of a leveret, and resembles a common rat very much in appearance. These little ...

Chap. XIV: The Elephant - Fossil Elephant - The Chameleon - The Common Tortoise - Orang-Outang - The Unicorn - The Common Seal - The Ursine Seal - American Natural History. Let no presuming impious railer tax...

The Elephant: This is a very wonderful animal; and has, both in ancient and modern times, been duly estimated in the Eastern world. His virtues are thus enumerated by Buffon: - To form a just estimation of the elep...

The Mammoth, or a Fossil Elephant: The Mammoth is a fossil Elephant; a most remarkable one of which was found in the ice, at the mouth of the river Lena, in Siberia. The following account is extracted from an abridgment of for paper...

The Mammoth, or a Fossil Elephant. Continued: In the month of March, 1804, Schumachof came to his mammoth, and having cut off his horns (or tusks) he ex-changed them with the merchant Bultunof, for goods of the value of fifty rubles. Two yea...

The Chameleon: From Forbes's work we extract the following particulars respecting The Chameleon. The greatest curiosity in the East, says Forbes, is the Chameleon. found in every thicket. I kept one for several w...

The Common Tortoise: The weight of this animal is three pounds, and the length of its shell about seven inches. It abounds in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and particularly in Greece, where the inhabitants ...

The Orang-Outang: The next curious animal which we shall consider, is, The Orang-Outang. - This animal is sometimes called the satyr, great ape, or man of the woods. It is a native of the warmer parts of Africa and Ind...

The Unicorn: The next is, The Unicorn. - The following account is extracted from the St. James's Chronicle of Dec. 19 to 21, 1820. We have no doubt that a little time will bring to light many objects of natura...

Common Seal: These animals are found on the coasts of the polar regions, both to the north and south, often in extreme abundance, and are generally about five feet in length, closely covered with short hair. They ...

The Ursine Seal: This animal grows to the length of eight feet, and to the weight of an hundred pounds. These are found in vast abundance in the islands between America and Kamschatka, from June till September, when t...

American Natural History: We shall close this chapter with an extract from the Public Journals of 1821, on American Natural History The Ten-petalled Bartonia On the unfrequented, solitary, remote banks of the Missouri, g...

Chap. XV: Remarkable Strength of Affection in Animals - Surprising Instances of their Sociality - Unaccountable Faculties possessed by some Animals - Remarkable Instances of Fasting in Animals - Extraordinary A...

Remarkable Strength Of Affection In Animals: Mr. White, in his Natural History, etc. of Selborne, speaking of the natural affection of brutes, says, The more I reflect on it, the more I am astonished at its effects. Nor is the violence of this ...

The Account Of Surprising Instances Of Sociality In Animals: A wonderful spirit of sociality in the brute creation, independent of sexral attachment, has been frequently remarked. Many horses, though quiet with company, will not stay one minute in a field by th...

The History Of The Unaccountable Faculties Possessed By Some Animals: Besides reflection and sagacity, often in an astonishing degree, and besides the sentiments and actions prompted by social or natural attachments, brutes seem on many occasions inspired with a superio...

Remarkable Instances Of Fasting In Animals: The following remarkable instances of brutes being able to live long without food, are related by Sir William Hamilton, in his account of the earthquakes in Italy, (Phil. Trans, vol. 73.) At Soriano,...

Extraordinary Adventures of a Sheep: The following authentic history of the Extraordinary Adventures of a Sheep, which was transmitted to a respectable periodical journal, from Salisbury, where the animal died, will, we doubt not, prove ...

A Notable Instance Of The Sagacity Of A Monkey: Some strolling showmen, being at Stonin, a town of Lithuania, belonging to Count Ogienski, grand general of that province, diverted the inhabitants by exhibiting the tricks and gambols of half a dozen...

Astonishing Instance of Sagacity in a Horse: We shall in the next place give an astonishing instance of Sagacity in a Horse. At Chepstow, in Monmouthshire there is a bridge, the construction of which is extremely curious, as the planks that f...

Sagacity of Dogs: It is from a respectable source that we insert the following narrative of the Sagacity of Dogs. M. La Valee, in his Journey through the Departments of France, published in 1792, gives the following...

Chap. XVI. Curiosities Respecting Fishes: The Frog fish - Bird-catching Fish - The Nautilus - The Air-bladder in Fishes - Respiration in Fishes - Shower of Fishes. ---------------------The scaly brood In countless myriads cleave the cr...

The Frog-Fish: There is a very singular animal of Surinam, bearing this name, of which a figure is given by Mr. Edwards, in his History of Birds, vol. I. but of which no specimen is to be found either in the British...

The Bird-catching Fish: Another curiosity is, The Bird-catching Fish. - This fish is called by the natives of Canada, Chaousaron; its body is nearly the shape of a jack or pike, but is covered with scales that are proof agai...

The Nautilus: Another curious object is, The Nautilus. Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. Pope. The shell of this animal consists of one spiral valve, di...

The Torpedo: The torpedo inhabits the Mediterranean and the North Seas, and grows to the weight of twenty pounds This fish possesses a strong electrical power, and is capable of giving a very considerable shock th...

The Air-Bladder in Fishes: A very curious object is, The Air-Bladder in Fishes.- There is no doubt that fishes extract air from water by means of their gills, since it is through them that they renew the air of their air-bladde...

The Respiration in Fishes: Another subject of curiosity is, The Respiration in Fishes. - Fish derive air from the water which they are inac-cessantly swallowing through the mouth, and throwing out by the gills. The gills are fo...

A Shower Of Fishes: In the Philosophical Transactions for 1698, Mr. Robert Conny gives the following account of a phenomenon of this kind. On Wednesday before Easter, anno 1666, a pasture field at Cranstead, near Wrot...

The Whales: The Whale - Whale Fishery - The Kraken. ------------------------------------The whales Toss in foam their lashing tails. Wallowing unwieldly, enormous in their gait, hey seem a moving land, ...

The Whale Fishery: The reader will be interested in the following account of The Whale Fishery. As when enclosing harpooners assail, In hyperborean seas, the slumbering whale; Soon as their javelins pierce the ...

The Kraken: We shall conclude this short sketch of some of the curiosities respecting fishes, with an account of The Kraken. - This is a most amazingly large sea animal, said to be seemingly of a crab-like form; ...

Curiosities Respecting Serpents And Worms: The Scorpion - The Boa Constrictor - The American Sea Serpent-Fascinating Serpents- The Caterpillar - Caterpillar-Eaters-The Silk-Worm - The Tape-Worm - The Ship-Worm - The Lizard imbedded in Coal. ...

The Scorpion: Their flaming crests above the waves they show, Their bellies seem to burn the seas below; Their speckled tails advance to steer their course, And on the sounding shore the flying billows for...

The Boa Constrictor: Another subject of curiosity belonging to this class, is, The Boa Constrictor. - A serpent very remarkable for its vast size ; some of the principal species of which are met with in India, Africa, and...

The American Sea Serpent: The following account of The American Sea Serpent, is given in the words of an eye-witness : - 1, the undersigned Joseph Woodward, captain of the Adamant schooner, of Hing-ham, being on my rout from ...

On The Fascinating Power Of Serpents: Major Alexander Garden, of South Carolina, has, in a paper read to the New York Historical Society, attributed the supposed power of fascination possessed by serpents, to a vapour which they can sprea...

The Caterpillar: We shall now give some curiosities respecting Worms ; and first, of The Caterpillar. - The larvae of butterflies are universally known by the name of caterpillars, and are extremely carious in their f...

The Silk-worm: In the next place we shall introduce a subject of great curio-sity, well known by the name of The Silk-worm. - The silk-worm is a species of caterpillar, and, like it, is formed of several moveable ri...

The Tape-worm: Our next subject is, The Tape-worm. - This genus of worms is destined to feed on the juices of various animals, and they inhabit the internal parts of almost every species of living beings. The struct...

The Ship-worm: An article of great curiosity is, The Ship-worm. - This worm has a very slender, smooth, cylindrical shell ; it inhabits the Indian seas, whence it was imported into Europe. It penetrates easily into ...

A Living Lizard, Imbedded in Coal: We shall conclude this chapter with an account of a singular curiosity that was found in a colliery. It is A living Lizard, imbedded in Coal. - This animal, preserved in spirits, is now in the possess...

Chap. XIX. Curiosities Respecting Birds: The Common Peacock - The Egyptian Vulture - The Secretary Vulture - The Stork - The Great Pelican - The Bird of Paradise-The Ostrich - The Mocking-Bird of America - The Social Grosbeak - The Bengal Gr...

The Peacock: How rich the peacock ! what bright glories run From plume to plume, and vary in the sun! He proudly spreads them to the golden ray, And gives his colours to adorn the day ; With conscious ...

The Egyptian Vulture: The appearance of this bird is as horrid as can well be imagined. The face is naked and wrinkled ; the eyes are large and black ; the beak black and hooked; the talons large, and extended, ready for p...

The Secretary Vulture: This is a most singular species, being particularly remarkable from the great length of its legs, which at first sight would induce us to think it belonged to waders : but the characters of the vultur...

The Stork: The Curious Reader Will Be Interested By The Following Singular Particulars Respecting The Stork The veneration shown by the Germans for storks, is a very remarkable superstition. The houses which ...

The Great Pelican: This bird is sometimes of the weight of twenty-five pounds, and of the width, between the extreme points of the wings, of fifteen feet; the skin, between the sides of the upper mandible, is extremely ...

The Bird of Paradise: Another curiosity is, The Bird of Paradise. - In natural history, a genus of birds of the order Picae. Generic character: bill covered at the base with downy feathers; nostrils covered by the feathers...

The Ostrich: The following account of the curiosities of The Ostrich, is taken from Lichtenstein's Travels in South Africa, vol. II. - The habits of the ostrich are so remarkable, and have been so imperfectly des...

The Mockingbird Of America: Those who have not heard the mocking-bird, can have no conception of his great superiority of song: he seems the merryandrew among: birds, and the most serious and laboured efforts of the best perform...

The Social Grosbeak: This bird inhabits the interior country of the Cape of Good Hope, where it was discovered by Mr. Paterson. These birds live together in large societies, and their mode of nidification is extremely unc...

The Bengal Grosbeak: This is an Indian bird, and is thus described by Mr. Latham. This little bird (called baya, in Hindu; berbera, in Sanscrit; babui, in the dialect of Bengal; cibu, in Persian; and tenauwit, in Arabic,...

The Humming Bird: Another subject of acknowledged curiosity is, The Humming Bird. - There are sixty species enumerated by Latham, and Gmelin has sixty-five. The birds of this genus are the smallest of all birds. These ...

The Golden Eagle: This bird weighs above twelve pounds, and is about three feet long, the wings, when extended, measuring seven feet four inches. The sight and sense of smelling are very acute; the head and neck are cl...

Chap. XX: The Cuckoo - The Cormorant - The Great Bustard - The Alarm Bird - The Carrier, or Courier, Pigeon - The Wild Pigeon, its multiplying Power - Singular Bird, inhabiting a Volcano in Guadaloupe - Curious...

The Cuckoo: We shall introduce this curious bird, with the following well-known beautiful piece of poetry :Hail, beauteous stranger of the wood, Attendant on the spring ! Now heav'n repairs thy rural seat, ...

The Cormorant: This bird, which is nearly as large as a goose, is found in many places both of the old and the new world; it is to be met with in the northern parts of this island, and one of diem, not very long sin...

The Great Bustard: The next curiosity among birds which we shall introduce, is, The Great Bustard. - This bird is found in the plains of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but it has never been observed in the New Continent. In ...

The Alarm-Bird: The following deserves to be ranked among the curiosities of the feathered tribe; The Alarm-Bird. - Near the Coppermine River, which falls into Hudson's Bay, live a tribe of Indians, who traverse the ...

The Carrier, or Courier Pigeon: A subject of great curiosity, and pleasing admiration, is, The Carrier, or, Courier Pigeon. - These birds, though carried, hoodwinked, twenty, thirty, or even a hundred miles, will find their way in a...

The Wild Pigeon: It Is Presumed It Will Not Be Out Of Place To Insert The Following Curious Particulars Respecting The Multiplying Power Of The Wild Pigeon The following account is extracted from Janson's Stranger ...

A Singular Bird Inhabiting A Volcano In Guadaloupe: The following account of a singular Bird inhabiting a Volcano in Guadaloupe, is taken from a respectable source. Father Dutertre, in his Description of Guadaloupe, the best and most beautiful, in h...

A Curious Adventure Of An Owl: The following story is recorded in history as a fact, under the title of A curious Adventure of an Owl. In a council held at Rome by Pope John XXIII. at the first session, happened the Adventure of...

Some Curious Facts In Natural History: We often meet in our aviaries with what are called mule canary birds, that is, the offspring of the gray linnet and the canary. In the country, where the domestic fowls are accustomed to wander to a ...

Formation Of The Chick In The Egg: Scarcely has the hen sat upon the eggs twelve hours, before some lineaments of the head and body of the chick are discernible in the embryo; at the end of the second day, the heart begins to beat, but...

Chap. XXI: Birds' Nests - Migration of Birds - Curious Method of Bird-Catching in the Faro Isles - Song of Birds. ...

Birds' Nests: ----------It wins my admiration, To view the structure of that little work, A bird's nest: mark it well within, without; No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut, No nail to fix, no bo...

Migration Of Birds: The migration of birds has been justly considered as one of the most wonderful exhibitions of nature. This migration, which is common to the quail, the stork, the crane, the fieldfare, the woodcock, t...

Migration Of Birds. Part 2: Swallows are often observed, in innumerable flocks, on churches, rocks, and trees, previous to their departure hence ; and Mr. Collinson proves their return here, perhaps in equal numbers, by two curi...

Migration Of Birds. Part 3: Mr. Heerkens, after reciting many instances, and producing in his notes many authorities, of swallows having been found in a torpid state, proceeds, in his poem, to describe, very minutely, their asce...

The Curious Method Of Bird-Catching In The Faro Isles: We Shall Now Give An Account Of The Curious Method Of Bird-Catching In The Faro Isles The manner of bird-catching in the Faro Islands, is exceedingly strange and hazardous. Necessity compels man to...

The Song Of Birds: We Shall Close This Division Of Our Work With A Curious Account Of The Song Of Birds We introduce the subject by the following poetical quotations; which, we have no doubt, will interest every admi...

The Honey Bee: 10 their delicious task the fervent bees, In swarming millions, tend; around, athwart, Through the soft air the busy nations fly, Cling to the bud, and with inserted tube Suck its pure ess...

The Honey Bee. Part 2: I made several experiments, to see if there was such a quantity of oil in it, as would account for the quantity of wax to be formed, and to learn if it was composed of oil. I held it near the candle;...

The Honey Bee. Part 3: What follows is principally abridged from Huber, who in many instances is more correct than Hunter. - A hive contains three kind of bees. 1. A single queen bee, distinguishable by the great length of ...

The Honey Bee. Part 4: M. Huber relates some experiments which confirm the singular discovery of M. Riems, concerning common working bees that are capable of laying eggs, - which, we may remark, is certainly a most convinci...

The Honey Bee. Part 5: It is well known, that after the season of swarming, a general massacre of the drones is commenced. Several authors assert, in their writings, that the workers do not sting the drones to death, but me...

Wild Bees: The Carpenter Bee. - The Mason Bee. - The Upholsterer Bee. - The Leaf-cutter Bee. - Curious Account of an Idiot Boy and Bees. - Mr. Wildman's Curious Exhibitions of Bees explained. ...

The Clothier Bee: Learn each small people's genius, policies, The ants' republic, and the realm of bees; How those in common all their wealth bestow And anarchy without confusion know; And these for ever, t...

The Carpenter Bee: A numerous family of wild bees may properly be compared to carpenters, boring with incredible labour, out of the solid wood, long cylindrical tubes, and dividing them into various cells. Amongst these...

The Mason-Bee: There is a family of wild bees which carry on the trade of masons, building their solid houses solely of artificial stone. The first step of the mother bee, Apis mururia, Oliv. (Anthophara, F. Me-gach...

The Upholsterer-Bee: Such may those be denominated which line the holes excavated in the earth for the reception of their young, with an elegant coating or flowers or of leaves. Amongst the most interesting of these is Ap...

The Leaf-Cutter Bee: There is a species of wild bee, that cover the walls of their cells with coatings of sober-coloured materials, generally selecting for their hangings the leaves of trees, especially of the rose, whenc...

Account Of An Idiot Boy, and Bees: A curious Account of an Idiot Boy, and Bees. - Mr White has given the following curious account of an idiot boy. From a child He showed a strong propensity to bees. They were his food, his amusement, ...

Mr. Wildman's curious Exhibitions of Bees: Mr. Wildman, by his dexterity in the management of bees, some years ago, surprised the whole kingdom, He caused swarms to light where he pleased, almost instantaneously; he ordered them to settle on h...

The Wasp: The laws of life, why need I call to mind, Obey'd by insects, too, of ev'ry kind ! Of these, none uncontroll'd and lawless rove, But to some destin'd end spontaneous move: Led by that inst...

The Wasp. Continued: Wasps, though ferocious and cruel towards their fellow-insects, are civilized and polished in their intercourse with each other, and form a community whose architectural labours will not suffer on com...

Chap. XXV: Ants - White Ants - Green Ants - Visiting Ants - The Ant-Lion These emmets, how little they are in our eyes! We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies Without our regard or concern: Yet, a...

Ants: The societies of Ants, as also of other Hymenoptera, differ from those of the Termites, in having inactive larvae and pupae, the neuter, or workers, combining in themselves both the military and civil...

Ants. Part 2: When the female is acknowledged as a mother, the workers begin to pay her a homage very similar to that which the bees render to their queen. All press round her, offer her food, conduct her by her ma...

Ants. Part 3: It is well known also, that ants give each other information when they have discovered any store of provision. Bradley relates a striking instance of this. A nest of ants in a nobleman's garden discov...

Ants. Part 4: Next to their language, and scarcely different from it, are the modes by which they express their affections and aversions. Whether ants, with man and some of the larger animals, experience any thing ...

Ants. Part 5: The wars of the red ant (M. rubra) are usually between a small number of the citizens; and the object, according to Gould, is to get rid of a useless member of the community, (it does not argue much i...

The White Ants, or Termites: The majority of these animals are natives of tropical countries, though two species are indigenous to Europe; one of which, thought to have been imported, is come so near to us as Bourdeaux. Their soc...

The White Ants, or Termites. Part 2: These magazines and nurseries, separated by small empty chambers and galleries, which run round them, or communicate from one to the other, are continued on all sides to the Duter wall of the building...

The White Ants, or Termites. Part 3: The first establishment of a colony of termites takes place in the following manner. In the evening, soon after the first tornado, which at the latter end of the dry season proclaims the approach of t...

The White Ants, or Termites. Part 4: Besides building and repairing, a great deal of their time is occupied in making necessary alterations in their mansion and its approaches. The royal presence chamber, as the female increases in size,...

The Green Ants: Captain Cook gives the following account of a very peculiar kind of ants, which he met with at Botany Bay. - They are as green as a leaf. They live upon trees, where they build their nests. The nests...

The Visiting Ants: At Paramaribo, a Dutch colony in the province of Surinam, there is a species of ants, which the Portuguese call visiting ants: they march in troops, and as soon as they appear, all the coffers and che...

The Ant-Lion: There is no insect more remarkable for its dexterity than the ant-lion, though its figure announces nothing extraordinary. It nearly resembles the woodlouse; its body being provided with six feet, com...

The Spider: The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the lino. Pope. Ingenuity Of The Spider. One of the largest of the European spiders is the Aranca diade...

The Spider. Continued: These insects are but ill calculated to live in society Whenever thus stationed, they never fail to wage war with each other. The females, in particular, are of a disposition peculiarly capricious and...

Luminous Insects: Many insects are possessed of a luminous preparation or secretion, which has all the advantages of our lamps and candles, without their inconveniences; which gives light sufficient to direct our motio...

Luminous Insects. Continued: Besides Elater noctilucus, Elignitus, and several others of the same genus, are luminous: not fewer than twelve species of this family are described by Illiger in the Berlin Naturalist Society's Magaz...

The Flea: The Flea - On the Duration of the Life of a Flea - The Louse. The Flea, - has two eyes and six feet, fitted for leaping; the feelers are like threads; the rostrum is inflected, setaceous, and armed...

The Louse: This insect has six feet, two eyes, and a sort of sting in the mouth; the feelers are as long as the thorax; and the belly is depressed and sublobated. It is an oviparous animal. They are not peculiar...

The Aphides: In the vast, and the minute, we see The unambiguous footsteps of a God, Who gives its lustre to an insect's wing, And wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds. Cowper. This is an insect ...

The Aphides. Continued: Not withstanding these insects have a numerous tribe of enemies, they are not without their friends, if those may be considered as such, who are officious in their attendance, for the good things they...

Chap. XXX: The Common House Fly - The Hessian Fly - The May Fly - The Vegetable Fly - The Boat Fly - The Ephemeral Flies - Butterflies - Metamorphoses of Insects - The Death-Watch. What atom-forms of insect l...

The Common House Fly: Gordart has reckoned up forty-eight varieties of the fly, without including them all in this enumeration. The multitude of these lively insects, which the first genial sunshine calls forth into life, ...

The Hessian Fly: Another curious insect is, The Hessian Fly. - This is a very mischievous insect, which a few years ago appeared in North America, and whose depredations threatened then to destroy the crops of wheat i...

The May Fly: This insect is called the May fly, from its annual appearance in that month. It lies all the year, except a few days, at the bottom or sides of rivers, nearly resembling the nymph of the small libella...

The Vegetable Fly: This is a very curious natural production, chiefly found in the West Indies. It resembles the drone, both in size and colour, more than any other British insect, excepting that it has no wings. In th...

The Boat Fly: This insect, called Notonecta glauca, is thus described by Barbut. It has a head somewhat round, of which the eyes seem to take up the greatest part. These eyes are brown, and very large, the rest of...

Ephemeral Flies: This species of insect is named ephemeral, because of its very short existence in the fly state. It is one of the most beautiful species of flies, and undergoes five changes. At first, the egg contain...

The Butterfly: Behold, ye pilgrims of this earth, behold! See all but man with unearn'd pleasure gay See her bright robes the butterfly unfold, Broke from her wintry tomb in prime of May. What youthful b...

Metamorphoses of Insects: We shall now briefly describe The Metamorphoses of Insects. And first, The Butterfly: From form to form they pass in wondrous change. Virgil. At the first exclusion from the egg, and for some mo...

The Common Fly: This winged insect, whose delicate palate selects out the choicest viands, one while extending is proboscis to the margin of a drop of wine, and then gaily flying to take a more solid repast from a pe...

The Greycoated Gnat: This creature, whose humming salutation, while she makes her airy circles about our bed, gives terrific warning of the sanguinary operation in which she is ready to engage, was a few hours ago the inh...

The Shardhorn Beetle: This species of beetle, whose sullen hum, as he directs his droning flight close past our ears in our evening walk, was not in his infancy an inhabitant of air, the first period of his life being spen...

The Death-Watch: This appalling name is applied to a harmless, diminutive insect, because it emits a sound resembling the ticking of a watch, and is supposed to predict the death of some one of the family, in the hous...

Chap. XXXI: Locusts and Mosquitoes, and their Uses in the Creation; - from Kirby, Spence, and Fothergill ...

Locusts: If we could discover the use of every animal in the creation, we should gain a very clear insight into the grand designs of the Almighty, respecting creatures inferior to ourselves, and perceive the i...

Locusts. Continued: Even this happy island, so remarkably distinguished by its exemption from most of those scourges to which other nations are exposed, was once alarmed by the appearance of locusts. In 1748 they were ob...

Mosquitoes: Mosquitoes, and their Uses. - The mosquito is accounted one of the most noxious and the most numerous of insects; at least of such as are esteemed noxious by the vulgar and the ignorant. In some count...

Chap. XXXII: Animalcules - The Cheese Mite - The Hydra, or Polypes. The smallest creature in existence Has limbs and sinews, blood, and heart, and brain, Life and her proper functions to sustain, Throu...

Animalcules: The microscope discovers legions of animalcules in mos liquors, as water, vinegar, beer, dew, etc. They are also found in rain, and several chalybeate waters, and in infusions of both animal and veget...

The Cheese-Mite: This minute creature is a favourite subject for microscopic observations. It is covered with hairs or bristles, which resemble in their structure the awns of barley, being barbed on each side with num...

The Hydra, or Polypes: We shall close the account of the curiosities of insects with a description of The Hydra, or Polypes. - In natural history, this is a genus of the Vermes Zoophyta class and order; an animal fixing its...

Curiosities Respecting Vegetables: Curiosities in the Vegetable Kingdom - Germination of Seeds - Dissemination of Plants-Number of Plants upon the Earth - Sensibility of Plants - The Sensitive Plant. Your contemplation further yet p...

Curiosities In The Vegetable Kingdom: The difference between animals and vegetables is so great, that at first we do not perceive any resemblance between them. Some animals only live in water; others on the earth, or in the air ; and some...

The Germination Of Seeds: Seeds are composed of different parts, according to the variety of species, the principal of which parts is the germ. Each germ has two parts: the one simple, which becomes the root; and the other lam...

Dissemination Of Plants: When seeds are come to maturity, their dissemination is absolutely necessary, since without it no future crop would follow. The great Author of nature has wisely provided for this in various ways. The...

Prodigious Number Of Plants Upon The Earth: It is said, that there are about 44,000 different plants already discovered, to which new ones are daily added. By means of the microscope, some have been found where they were least expected. The dif...

Sensibility Of Plants: There are certain motions Od-servable in plants, that make it doubtful whether they are not possessed of sensibility. Some plants shrink and contract their leaves upon being touched; others open and s...

The Sensitive Plant: This singular plant rises from a slender woody stalk seven or eight feet in height, armed with short recurved thorns; the leaves grow upon long footstalks, which are prickly, each sustaining two pair ...

Chap. XXXIV: The Cocoa-Nut Tree - The Bread-Fruit Tree - The Bannian Tree - Fountain Trees - The Tallow Tree - The Paper Tree - The Calabash Tree - Remarkable Oak - Dimensions, etc. of some of the largest Trees no...

The Cocoa-Nut Tree: Of all the gifts which Providence has bestowed on the Oriental world, the cocoa-nut tree most deserves our notice: in this single production of nature, what blessings are conveyed to man! It grows a s...

The Bread-Fruit Tree: The systematic name of this plant is Artocarpus, which is merely the English name translated into Greek. There are several species; particularly A. incisa, and A. integrifolia. The genuine bread-fr...

The Bannian Tree: The bannian, or Indian fig-tree, is a native of several parts of the East Indies, and has a woody stem, branching to a great height and vast extent. It is universally considered as one of the most bea...

Fountain Trees: These are very extraordinary vegetables, growing in one of the Canary Islands, and likewise said to exist in some other places, which distil water from their leaves in such plenty, as to answer all th...

The Tallow Tree: This is a remarkable tree, growing in great plenty in China; so called from its producing a sub stance like tallow, and which serves for the same purpose : it is about the height of a cherry-tree, its...

The Paper Tree: The name of this tree is Aouta. It is a mulberry-tree, found at Otaheite, in the South Sea, from which a cloth is manufactured, that is worn by the principal inhabitants. The bark of the trees is stri...

Adansonia, Ethiopian Sour Gourd, Monkeys' Bread, or African Calabash Tree: Another article worthy of the reader's attention, is the Adansonia, Ethiopian Sour Gourd, Monkeys' Bread, or African Calabash Tree. - There is but one known species belonging to this genus, the baobal...

Oak Tree: The following is an account of a Remarkable Oak Tree : Behold the oak does young and verdant stand Above the grove, all others to command ; His wide-extended limbs the forest crown'd, Shading...

The History Of Some Of The Largest Trees Now Growing In England: This will be a proper place for introducing the history of some of the largest trees now growing in england In Hainault Forest, near Barking in Essex, there is an oak which has attained the enormou...

The Shelton Oak: About a mile and a half from Shrewsbury, where the Pool road diverges from that which leads to Oswestry, there stands an ancient decayed oak. There is a tradition, that Owen Glendwr (Glynder) ascended...

The Upas, or Poison-tree of Java: We conclude this chapter with an essay on the Upas, or Poison-tree of Java ; by Thomas Horsefield, M.D. - From the Seventh Volume of the Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Java....

Chap. XXXV: Curious Plant near the Cape of Good Hope - The Mandrake - Changeable Flower - Chinese Method of Preparing Tea - Antiquity of Sugar - Curious Effects of Cinchona, or Peruvian hark - Curious Particulars...

The Mandrake: This plant possesses a long taper root resembling the parsnip, running three or four feet into the ground ; immediately from the crown of the root arises a circle of leaves, at first standing erect, b...

The Changeable Flower: On the island of Lewchew, (says Mr. M'Leod,) is found a remarkable production, about the size of a cherry-tree, bearing flowers, which, alternately on the same day, assume the tint of the rose or lil...

The Chinese Method of Preparing Tea: As this is a chapter devoted to miscellaneous articles of this class, it-may not be amiss to insert The Chinese Method of preparing Tea. - Tea grows on a small shrub, the leaves of which are collected...

Bohea Tea: The Chinese name of this tea is vou-y-tchat that is to say, tea of the third kind, called vou-y. It takes its name from a mountain in the province of Fokien. There are three kinds of this tea: the fir...

Green Teas: Green teas do not grow in the same place as the Bohea tea. They are brought from the province of Nankin, and are distinguished into three sorts. The first is known under the name of songlo tea, but of...

Antiquity Of Sugar: From the few remains of the Grecian and Roman authors which have survived the ravages of time, we can find no proof that the juice of the sugar-cane was known at a very early period. There can be no d...

Cinchona, or Peruvian Bark: Curious Effects of Cinchona, or Peruvian Bark.- An account has been published in the Journal de Pharmacie, for May 1819, of some curious effects produced by Peruvian Bark. A French merchant, M. Del...

Curious Particulars Of A Pound Weight Of Cotton-Wool: The wool came from the East Indies to London ; from London it went to Manchester, where it was manufactured into yarn; from Manchester it was sent to Paisley, where it was woven; it was then sent to A...

The Animated Stalk: We shall close this chapter with an account of two curious articles, not strictly vegetable, denominated the animated stalk, and the animal flower. This very remarkable animal was found by Mr. Ives...

The Animal Flower: Animal flower, in zoology, is a name given to several species of animals belonging to the genus of Actinia of Linnaeus. They have likewise been distinguished by the names of Urtica marina, or Sea-nett...

Fungus, Or Mushroom: If to this lower planet we advert, Seat of our birth and nurture, proofs abound Of infinite contrivance, matchless skill. Whether the site or figure we regard, Or distribution of the vario...

Fungus, Or Mushroom. Continued: The organization (says M. de Jussieu) which distinguishes plants and other productions of nature, is visible in the fungi, and the particular organization of each species is constant at all times, and...

Curiosities Respecting Stones: The Meteoric Stone - Labrador Stone - Asbestos - Mushroom Stone - The Changeable Stone - A Wonderful Diamond -A Singular Curiosity. There are more things in heaven and earth Than are dreamt of i...

The Meteoric Stone: The following description of a meteoric stone, which fell in the year 1511, is taken from a set of observations on natural history, meteorology, etc. made in the early part of the sixteenth century, b...

The Labrador Stone: The Labrador Stone, is a curious species of Feld-spar, or Rhombic Quartz, which exhibits all the colours of a peacock's tail. It was discovered some years ago by the Moravians, who have a colony among...

The Asbestos: This is a stone found in several places in Europe and Asia, and particularly in Sweden, Corsica, Cornwall, and the island of Anglesea in Wales. It is of a silky nature, very fine, and of a grayish col...

The Mushroom Stone: The Mushroom Stone, or stone capable of producing mushrooms.-In the Ephemerides of the Curious mention is made, of a stone, so called by Dr. J. G. Wolckamerus, who saw one in Italy, which never ceases...

The Changeable Stone: There are three of these remarkable stones in the British Museum; the largest of them about the size of a cherry-stone, but of an oval form. It is opaque, and coloured like a common yellow pea; it may...

Diamond: An account of a Wonderful Diamond, in the Island of Bornou. - The rajah of Mathan possesses the finest and largest diamond in the world, that has hitherto been discovered. This diamond, which is said ...

Curiosities Respecting Mountains: Natural Description of Mountains - The Peak in Derbyshire - Snowden in Wales - Skiddaw in Cumberland. -----------Sublime the uplifted mountains rise, And with their pointed heads invade the skie...

Natural Description Of Mountains: Almost all the tops of the highest mountains are bare and pointed; which proceeds from their being continually assaulted by storms and tempests. All the earthy substances with which they might have be...

The Peak in Derbyshire: A Description of the Peak in Derbyshire, from Moritz's Travels in several parts of England. Having arrived in Derbyshire, a distance of 170 miles from London, the author thus describes the town of ...

Snowden in Wales: From the Peak in Derbyshire, we shall conduct our reader to Snowden in Wales; to the top of which Miss Elizabeth Smith, a young lady of uncommon attainments, made an excursion, and published an accoun...

Skiddaw in Cumberland: We Shall Close This Chapter With An Account Of Skiddaw This is a mountain of England, in Cumberland, one of the most remarkable in the kingdom, being above 3000 feet in perpendicular height, from t...

Chap. XXXIX: The Andes - Pichinca - Monte Bolea - Pausilipo - Monte Nuovo - Spectre of the Broken - Gauts, or Indian Appenines - Pico - Written Mountains - Athos - Sulphur Mountains. --------His proud head the ...

The Andes: The Andes is a great chain of mountains in South America, which, running from the most northern part of Peru, to the Straits of Magellan, between 3000 and 4000 miles, are the longest and most remarkab...

Pichincha: The following is the account given of the mountain called Pichincha, by Don George Juan, and Don Antonio de Ulloa, two mathematicians, sent by the kings of France and Spain, to make observations in re...

Monte Bolea: This is a hill or mount in the neighbourhood of Verona, in the north of Italy, celebrated for the uncommon abundance and remarkable variety of the organic remains which it exhibits, as well as for the...

Pausilipo: Pausilipo, - which is the next we would speak of, is a celebrated mountain of Naples, five miles from Puzzoli, famous for its grotto, or rather a subterraneous passage through it, which is near a mile...

Monte Nuovo: Monte Nuovo, - is a mountain in the environs of Naples, which blocks up the valley of Averno. This mountain (Mr. Swinburne tells us) arose in 1538: after repeated quakings the earth burst asunder, an...

The Spectre Of The Broken: The next object that claims our attention is the spectre of the broken A curious phenomenon observed on the Broken, one of the Hartz mountains in Hanover, of which the allowing account is given by ...

The Gauts, or Indian Appenines: The Gauts, or Indian Appenines. - These form a stupendous wall of mountains, which extends from Cape Comorin, the southern point of the Peninsula of Hindoostan, to theTapty, or Surat river, at unequal...

Pico: We would now wish to draw the attention of the reader from the Indian Appenines, to Pico, a mountain which rears its lofty head in an island of the same name. - It is filled with dismal dark caverns, ...

Written Mountains, Mountains of Inscriptions, or Jibbel El Mokatteb: Written Mountains, Mountains of Inscriptions, or Jibbel El Mokatteb. - This is a mountain, or chain of mountains, said to be in the wilderness of Sinai; and the marble, of which it is composed, is rep...

Mount Athos: The next object that rises in our view is Mount Athos,- a mountain of Chalcidia in Macedonia, equally celebrated in ancient and modern times. The ancients entertained extravagant notions concerning it...

The Sulphur Mountains, in the Island of Iceland: We will now accompany Sir George Mackenzie to The Sulphur Mountains, in the Island of Iceland.- Having taken an early breakfast, (says he,) we set out towards the Sulphur Mountain, which is about thr...

Mont Blanc: So pleas'd at first the tow'ring mounts we try, Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky; TV eternal snows appear already past, And the first clouds and mountains seem the last. But, those att...

Mont Blanc. Part 2: We now, with more ease, and much more expedition, pursued our way, having only snow to cross, and in two hours arrived at a hut which had been erected in the year 1786, by the order, and at the expen...

Mont Blanc. Part 3: At this place I had an opportunity of measuring the height of the snow which had fallen during the preceding winter, and which was distinguished by its superior whiteness from that of the former year...

Volcanic Mountains. Vesuvius: Description of Vesuvius - Hecla - Etna, ------------The fluid lake that works below, Bitumen, sulphur, salt, and iron scum, Heaves up its boiling tide. The lab'ring mount Is torn with agonizing ...

Volcanic Mountains. Vesuvius. Part 2: phenomenon probably occasioned by the clouds having; acquired a great degree of heat in passing through the above-mentioned column of fire. On the eighth, the mountain was quiet till towards six p....

Volcanic Mountains. Vesuvius. Part 3: In this dreadful situation they remained about twenty-five minutes, when the volcanic storm ceased all at once, and Vesuvius assumed a sullen silence. Sometime after the eruption had .ceased, the air ...

Mount Hecla: This is a volcano of Iceland, and one of those whose operations are the most powerful of any in the world. It was visited in 1722, by Dr. Van Troil, a Swedish gentleman, together with Mr. (afterwards ...

Mount Etna: We now proceed to describe the celebrated Mount Etna. Now Etna roars with dreadful ruins nigh, Now hurls a bursting cloud of cinders high, Involv'd in smoky whirlwinds to the sky; With lou...

Chap. XLII. Curiosities Respecting Grottos, Caves, Etc: Grotto in South Africa - Grotto del Cani - Grotto of Antiparos - Grotto of Guacharo - Snow Grotto - Cave of Fingal - Cave near Mexico - The Nitre Caves of Missouri - Okey Hole - Borrowdale - Needle's ...

Grotto in South Africa: From Thorn's account of his Journey to South Africa. - In the country of Kango is the greatest natural curiosity of South Africa, a grotto of unknown extent. This I visited, and spent four or five ho...

The Grotto Del Cani: This is a little cavern near Poz-zuoli, four leagues from Naples: the air contained in it is of a mephitical or noxious quality; it is in truth carbonic acid gas, whence also it is called Bocca Veneno...

Grotto Of Antiparos: We now proceed to the famous grotto of antiparos This grotto takes its name from the small island in which it is situated. The following is Mr. Charles Saunders's account of his descent into this c...

The Grotto Of Guacharo: The gulf of Cariacho is frequented by innumerable flocks of marine birds, of various kinds. When the natives wish to catch any of these wild fowl, (says M.Lavayse,) they go into the water, having the...

The Snow Grotto: We will now beg the attention of our readers, while we relate some particulars respecting The Snow Grotto. - This is an excavation made by the waters on the side of Mount Etna, by making their way und...

The Cave of Fingal: The next object that claims our regard is The Cave of Fingal, or An-ua-vine, in the Island of Staffa. From Faujas St. Fond's Travels in England, Scotland, and the Hebrides. This superb and magnifi...

The Cave of Fingal. Continued: The cave can be entered only by proceeding along the platform on the right side, which I have mentioned above. But the way grows very narrow and difficult as it advances; for this sort of interior ga...

Cave Near Mexico: A traveller of credit gives us an account, in the Philosophical Transactions, of a remarkable cave, some leagues to the north-west of Mexico, gilded all over with a sort of leaf-gold, which had delude...

The Nitre Caves Of Missouri: On the banks of the Merrimack and the Gasconade are found numerous caves, which yield an earth impregnated largely with nitre, which is procured from it by lixiviation. On the head of Current's river...

Okey Hole: This is a famous natural cavern of England, on the south side of Mendip hills. The entrance is in the fal of those hills, which is beset all about with rocks, and there is near it a precipitate descen...

Borrowdale: From Okey Hole we proceed to Borrowdale, - which is a most romantic valley among the Derwent-Water Fells, in the county of Cumberland. These fells or hills are some of the loftiest in England, and it ...

The Needle's Eye: We shall close this division with an account of the needle's eye This name is given to a subterraneous passage on the coast of Banffshire, one hundred and fifty yards long from sea to sea, but thro...

Curiosities Respecting Mines: Diamond Mine in the Brazils - Mines of Peru - Volcanic Eruptions of Mud and Salt - Pitch Wells - Visit to a Coal-Pit Through dark retreats pursue the winding ore, Search Nature's depths, and vie...

A Diamond Mine On The River Tigitonhonha: Description of a Diamond Mine on the river Tigitonhonha, in the Brazilian territory; by Mr. Mawe. I could not (says the writer) resist the favourable opportunity now offered me of gratifying the c...

A Diamond Mine On The River Tigitonhonha. Continued: Many precautions are taken to prevent the negroes from embezzling diamonds. Although they work in a bent position, and consequently never know whether the overseers are watching them or not, yet it i...

The Mines Of Peru: There are great numbers of very rich mines which the waters of the ocean have invaded:. The disposition of the ground, which from the summit of the Cordilleras goes continually shelving to the South S...

Volcanic Eruptions of Mud and Salt: We shall incorporate in this chapter, the following interesting account of Volcanic Eruptions of Mud and Salt, in the Island of Java; by T. S. Goad, Esq. of the Honourable Company's Bengal Civil Servi...

Pitch-Wells: Now follows an account of Pitch-Wells; from Dr. Holland's Travels in the Ionian Isles, etc. - The pitch-wells of Zante are a natural phenomenon, which may be regarded as among the antiquities of the ...

Visit to a Coal-Pit: We close this chapter with Mrs. Wakefield's account of her Visit to a Coal-Pit. - Near the town of Newcastle, in the county of Northumberland, are vast beds of coal, which lie far beneath the surface...

Curiosities Respecting The Sea: General Observations respecting the Sea, or Ocean - Particular Curiosities of the Sea - On the Saltness of the Sea - On the Tides - Waves stilled by Oil. - And thou, majestic main, A secret worl...

General Observations Respecting The Sea, Or Ocean: The sea, or ocean, is that vast tract of water which encompasses the whole earth. What proportion the superficies of the sea bears to that of the land, is not precisely known, though it is said to be ...

The Curiosities Of The Sea: For the following observations we are principally indebted to Sturm. Instead of regarding the sea as an object of terror, let us consider the wonders and the benefits which it presents to us. It m...

On the Saltness of the Sea: The following opinions of a late celebrated philosopher and divine, on the Saltness of the Sea, may not be unacceptable to our readers: - There are few questions, (observes Bishop W'atson,) respectin...

The Tides: We shall now make a few observations on The Tides: Say, why should the collected main Itself within itself contain? Why to its caverns should it sometimes cree And with delighted silence ...

The Remarkable Fact Of Waves Stilled By Oil: This wonderful property, though well known to the ancients, as appears from the writings of Pliny, was for many ages either quite unnoticed, or treated as fabulous by succeeding philosophers, till Dr....

On The Perfection Of Navigation: The hand Almighty, who its channel'd bed Immeasurable sunk, and pour'd abroad, Fenc'd with eternal mounds, the fluid sphere; With every wind to waft large commerce on, Join pole to pole, consociate se...

Curiosities Respecting Waterfalls, Lakes, Gulfs, Whirlpools, Etc: The Falls of Niagara - Lake of Killarney - Lake Solfatara - Whirlpool near Suderoc - maelstrom - Gulf Stream - New Island starting from the Sea. Fountains and ponds he adds, and lakes immense, D...

The Niagara Falls: Niagara is a river of the United States, which flows from Lake Erie, and runs by a north-west course into the south-west end of Lake Ontario, constituting part of the boundary between the United State...

The Lake of Killarney: We shall next take a view of some of the most remarkable lakes; and the first we would notice, is the Lake of Killarney.-This is a beautiful lake of Ireland, in the county of Kerry, otherwise called L...

Lake Solfatara: This lake is in the Compagna of Rome, near Tivoli, anciently called Albulus. It has what are called three floating islands, but they are only apparently so, being composed of bunches of sedges and bul...

A Whirlpool Near Suderoe: Our next object of curiosity is a whirlpool near Suderoe Suderoe is one of the Fero isles, situated to the north of Scotland. Near this place there is a remarkable whirlpool, occasioned by a crater...

The Celebrated Maelstrom: This is a very dangerous whirlpool on the coast of Norway, in the province of Nordland, and district of Lofoden, near the island of Moskoe, whence it also has its name of Moskoe-strom. Of this amazing...

Gulf Stream: This is a remarkable current in the ocean, which runs along the coast, at unequal distances, from Cape Florida to the Isle of Sables and the banks of Newfoundland, where it turns off and runs through ...

A New Island Emerging From The Sea: The description is taken from the Edinburgh Review, No. 46, September, 1814. In the neighbourhood of Oonalashca, which is situated about the centre of the Aleutian chain, a new island, nearly twent...

Curiosities Respecting Burning Springs: Naphtha Springs - Burning Springs in Kentucky - Hot Springs of Iceland - Hot Springs of Ouachitta - Other Burning Springs Adored Artificer! what skill divine, What wonders, in the wide creation sh...

Naphtha Springs: Dr. James Mounsey, and Jonas Han-way, Esq., have given a particular account of these springs. Both gentlemen, by their travels, their residence in Muscovy, and their acquaintance with several people w...

A Burning Spring In Kentucky: This is a phenomenon which has for several years excited the attention of travellers, under the name of a burning spring: it exists in one of the principal forks of Licking river in Kentucky. It is si...

Hot Springs Of Iceland: From Sir G. Mackenzie's Travels in Iceland. The hot springs in the valley of Reikholt, or Reikiadal, though not the most magnificent, are not the least curious among the numerous phenomena of this...

The Hot Springs of Ouachitta: We next proceed to a description of the Hot Springs of Ouachitta, (Washitaw.)-These springs, which have been known for many years, are situated on a stream called Hot Spring Creek, which falls into th...

Various Other Burning Springs: There are many burning springs in different parts of the world, particularly one in France, in the department of Isere, near Grenoble; another near Her-manstadt, in Transylvania; a third at Chermay, a...

Chap. XLVIII. Curiosities Respecting Earthquakes: Earthquakes, Nature's agonizing pangs, Oft shake the astonish'd isles; the Solfaterre Or sends forth thick, blue, suffocating steams, Or shoots to temporary flames. A din, Wild, thro' the ...

Earthquakes And Their Causes: From A. de Hum-boldt's Personal Narrative of Travels, translated by Helen Maria Williams. It is a very old and commonly received opinion at Cum-ana, Acapulca, and Lima, that a perceptible connecti...

Earthquakes And Their Causes. Part 2: What a great Roman naturalist has said of the utility cf wells and caverns, is repeated in the New World by the most ignorant Indians of Quito, when they show travellers the guaicos, or crevices of Pi...

Earthquakes And Their Causes. Part 3: It has long been remarked, that the effects of great earthquakes extend much farther than the phenomena arising from burning volcanoes. In studying the physical re-olutions of Italy, and carefully ex...

Curiosities Respecting Winds, Hurricanes, Etc: Remarkable Winds in Egypt - Whirlwinds of Egypt - Tornado- Harmattan - Hurricane - Monsoons - Velocity of the Wind. Bound as they are, and circumscrib'd in place, They rend the world, resistless...

Remarkable Winds In Egypt: Egypt is infested with the destructive blasts common to all warm countries which have deserts in their neighbourhood. These have been distinguished by various names, such as Poisonous winds, Hot winds...

The Whirlwinds of Egypt: The following account of the Whirlwinds of Egypt, is from Belzoni's Narrative: - A strong wind which arose this day leads me to mention some particulars of the phenomena that often happen in Egypt. T...

A Tornado: This is a sudden and vehement gust of wind from all points of the compass, and frequent on the coast of Guinea. A tornado seems to partake much of the nature of a whirlwind, or perhaps of a waterspout...

Harmattan: This is a name given to a singular wind, which blows periodically from the interior parts of Africa, towards the Atlantic ocean. It prevails in December, January, and February, and is generally accomp...

Hurricane: We now proceed to some curious particulars, under the term Hurricane. - This is indeed a general name for any violent storm of wind, but is peculiarly applied to those storms which happen in the warme...

Monsoons, or Trade-Winds: In the next place we shall treat of Monsoons, or Trade- WINDS. Trade-winds, observing well their stated course, To human good employ their pow'rful force; The loaded ships across the ocean f...

Monsoons, or Trade-Winds. Continued: Perhaps some persons may be led to suppose, that the winds in the northern temperate zone should be between the north and east towards the poles, and between the south and west nearer the equator, al...

The Velocity of the Wind: The following Table, which gives some particulars respecting the Velocity of the Wind, was calculated by Mr. John Smeaton, the celebrated engineer, and is founded on a correct series of practical obse...

Curiosities Respecting Showers, Storms, Etc: Surprising Showers of Hail - Singular Effects of a Storm - The Mirage - Sand Floods - Showers of Gossamers - Winter in Russia. Ye vapours, hail, and snow, Praise ye th' Almighty Lord, And sto...

Surprising Showers Of Hail: Natural historians record various instances of surprising showers of hail, in which the hailstones were of extraordinary magnitude. Mezeray, speaking of the war of Lewis XII. in Italy, in 1510, relate...

The Singular Effects of a Storm: The following account of the Singular Effects of a Storm, was communicated to the Dublin Philosophical Society, by the secretary:Mrs. Close gave Mr. Molyneux the following account of the effects of t...

The Mirage: From Belzoni's Narrative. This phenomenon is often described by travellers, who assert having been deceived by it, as at a distance it appears to them like water. This is certainly the fact, and I...

Sand Floods: We shall now introduce to the reader a curious account of Sand Floods; a name given to the flowing of sand so common in the deserts of Arabia. Mr. Bruce gives the following description of some that he...

A Shower Of Gossamers: The following is a singular but authentic account of the curious phenomenon of a shower of gossamers From White's Natural History of Selborne. On September 21, 1741, being intent on field diver...

Winter In Russia: The winter, in the climate of Russia, approaches very suddenly. There is something very wonderful in the instantaneous change of weather about the time of winter. On one day the warmth shall be that o...

Curiosities Respecting Ice: On the Greenland, or Polar Ice - On the Tremendous Concussion of Fields of Ice - Icebergs - Magnitude of Icebergs - The Glaciers - Shower of Ice - Remarkable Frosts, There winter, arm'd with terror...

The Greenland, Or Polar Ice: The following account of the Greenland, or Polar Ice, if abridged by the Editor of this work from a paper, by W. Scoresby, jun. M. W. S. published in The Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural-History Socie...

The Various Kinds Of Ice Described: The ice in general is designated by a variety of appellations, distinguishing it according to the size or number of pieces, their form of aggregation, thickness, transparency, etc. I perhaps cannot b...

On The Tremendous Concussions Of Fields Of Ice: The occasional rapid motion of fields, with the strange effects produced on any opposing substance, exhibited by such immense bodies, is one of the most striking objects this country presents, and is ...

Icebergs: The term icebergs has commonly been applied to those immense bodies of ice situated on the land, 'filling the valleys between the high mountains,' and generally exhibiting a square perpendicular towa...

The Glaciers: Those vast piles of eternal ice with which it has pleased the Author of nature to crown the immense chasms between the summits of the Alps, are objects more grand, sublime, and terrific, than any othe...

Shower Of Ice: A very uncommon kind of shower fell in the west of England, in December 1672, whereof we have various accounts in the Philos. Trans. - This rain, as soon as it touched any thing above ground, as a bo...

An Account Of Remarkable Frosts: In the year 220, a frost in Britain lasted five months In 250, The Thames was frozen nine weekn. 291, Most rivers in Britain frozen six weeks. 359, Severe frost in Scotland for fourteen weeks...

Chap. LII. Curiosities Respecting Ruins: Ruin at Siwa, in Egypt - Ruins of Palmyra - Ruins of Herculaneum, and Pompeii - Ancient Ruins of Balbec - Ruins of Agrigentum, in Sicily - Ancient Grandeur of Carthage. The cloud-capt towers, the g...

Ruin at Siwa: Ruin at Siwa, in Egypt. - A great curiosity about Siwa, is a ruin, of undoubted antiquity, which, according to Mr. Browne, resembles exactly those of Upper Egypt, and was erected and adorned by the sa...

Ruins Of Palmyra: These celebrated ruins consist of temples, palaces, and porticos, of Grecian architecture; and lie scattered over an extent of several miles. They were accidentally discovered by some English travelle...

Ruins Of Herculaneum and Pompeii: Ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, - two ancient cities of Campania in Italy, which were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius, in the first year of the emperor Titus, or the 79th of the Christian aera,...

The Ancient Ruins of Balbec: The Ancient Ruins of Balbec - To give a just idea of these ruins, we must suppose ourselves descending from the interior of the town. After having crossed the rubbish and huts with which it is filled,...

Ruins of Agrigentum, in Sicily: Ruins of Agrigentum, in Sicily. - The present town, Girgenti, occupies the mountain on which the ancient citadel stood. At the north-east angle of the ancient limits, upon some foundations of large ir...

The Ancient Grandeur Of Carthage: At the third Punic war, Carthage appears to have been one of the first cities in the world. it was no less than 360 stadia, or forty-five miles, in circumference, and was joined to the continent by an...

Curiosities Respecting Ancient Buildings, Temples, And Other Monuments Of Antiquity: Egyptian Curiosities: - Pompey's Pillar - Buildings, and Library, of Alexandria - Temple of Tentyra - Palace of Memnon - Temple of Osiris, If glorious structures and immortal deeds Enlarge the t...

Pyramids Of Egypt: Pyramids of Egypt - From Cabillia's Researches, as re-corded in Belzoni's Narrative. The enterprise of Captain Cabillia was hazardous and bold, and nothing but an enthusiasm for discovery could in...

Belzoni's Own Researches: M. Belzoni determined on penetrating one of the famous pyramids, and, after an immense labour, succeeded in discovering the entrance, and reached a portcullis; but here a large block of stone stared h...

The Pompey's Pillar: This pillar is situated a quarter of a league from the southern gate. It is composed of red granite. The capital is Corinthian, with palm leaves, and not indented. It is nine feet high. The shaft and ...

The Exploit Of Some British Seamen: One of the volutes of the column was prematurely brought down some years ago, by a prank of some English captains; which is thus related by Mr. Irwin. These jolly sons of Neptune had been pushing abou...

Buildings, and Library, of Alexandria: Buildings, and Library, of Alexandria. - The aichi-tect emploved by Alexander, in this undertaking, was the celebrated Dinocrates, who had acquired so much reputation by rebuilding the temple of Diana...

Temple of Tentyra, in Egypt: Temple of Tentyra, in Egypt. - From Belzoni's Narrative. Little could be seen of the temple, till we came near to it, as it is surrounded by high mounds of rubbish of the old Tentyra. On our arriv...

The Palace of Memnon, and The Temple of Osiris, at Abidos: Two objects of great curiosity are, The Palace of Memnon, and The Temple of Osiris, at Abidos. - Abidos, an inland town of Egypt, between Ptolemais and Diospolis Parva, towards Cyrene, is famous for t...

Chap. LIV: Temple of Diana at Ephesus - Laocoon - Babylon - Alhambra. ...

Temple of Diana, at Ephesus: Temple of Diana, at Ephesus. - The chief ornament of Ephesus was the temple of Diana, built at the common charge of all the states in Asia, and, for its structure, size, and furni-ture, accounted amon...

Laocoon: Another curious monument of antiquity, which demands the reader's attention, is, Laocoon. - This is a celebrated monu ment of Greek sculpture, exhibited in marble, by Polydorus, Athenodorus, and Agesa...

Babylon: The following account of this city, in its greatest splendour, is borrowed principally from Herodotus, who had been on the spot, and is the oldest author who has treated of the subject. The city of...

Alhambra: We shall close this chapter with a full description of an ancient fortress called Alhambra. This place was the residence of the Moorish monarchs of Grenada. It derives its name from the red colour ...

Alhambra. Continued: Continuing your walk round, you are next brought to a couple of rooms at the head of the court, which are supposed to have been tribunals, or audience chambers. Opposite to the Sala de los Abbenc...

Chap. LV: Seraglio - Museum - Colossus - and Obelisk. Church Of Notre Dame At Paris. ...

Seraglio: This word is commonly used to express the house or palace of a prince. In this sense it is frequently used at Constantinople: the houses of foreign ambassadors are called seraglios. But it is commonly...

Museum: Museum, - is a collection of rare and interesting objects, selected from the whole circle of natural history and the arts, and deposited in apartments or buildings, either by the commendable generosit...

Museum. Continued: Mr. Pinkerton observes of this collection, It will not escape the attention of the reader of taste, that the arrangement is confused, nay, often capricious, and is capable of great improvement. And ...

Colossus: Colossus, - is a statue of vast or gigantic size. The most eminent of this kind was the Colossus of Rhodes,a brazen statue of Apollo, one of the wonders of the world. It was the workmanship of Chares,...

Obelisk: Obelisk, - in architecture, is a truncated, quadrangular, and slender pyramid, raised for the purpose of ornament, and frequently charged either with inscriptions or hieroglyphics. Obelisks appear to ...

Chap. LVI: Inverlochy Castle - Magdalen's Hermitage - Curiosities of Fri-burg - Curiosities of Augsburg - Escurial - Florence Statues - Great Wall of China - Floating Gardens - Curiosity at Palermo. ...

Inverlochy Castle: Inverlochy Castle, - is an ancient castle near Fort William, in Inverness-shire. It is adorned with large towers, which, by the mode of building, seem to have been the work of the English, in the time...

Magdalen's Hermitage: Magdalen's Hermitage - This place is situated about a league from Friburg, in Switzerland, and is described by Mr. Blainville, and also by Mr. Addison. They both say it is situated among woods and roc...

Curiosities Of Friburg: Friburg is a large town of Switzerland, seated on the Sanen, in a most singular and picturesque situation. Mr. Cox, in his Travels in Switzerland, thus describes it: It stands partly in a small plain...

Curiosities Of Augsburg: In the square, near the town-house, is the Fountain of Augustus, which is a marble bason, surrounded with iron balustrades finely wrought: at the four corners are four brass statues as large as life, ...

The Escurial: The Escurial, - is a royal residence of Spain, fifteen miles aorth-west of Madrid. It is the largest and most superb structure in the kingdom, and one of the finest in Europe. The word is Arabic, mean...

Florence Statues: In the Duke of Florence's garden at Pratoline, is the statue of Pan; sitting on a stool, with a wreathed pipe in his hand, and that of Syrinx, beckoning him to play on his pipe. Pan, putting away his ...

The Great Wall Of China: The principal defence of the empire against a foreign enemy is the Great Wall, which separates China from Tartary, extending more than fifteen hundred miles in length, and of such thickness, that six ...

Floating Gardens: Abbe Clavigero, in his History of Mexico, says, that when the Mexicans were brought under subjection to the Colhuan and Tapanecan nations, and confined to the miserable little islands on the Lake of M...

Palermo: We conclude this chapter with an account of a Curious Sight at Palermo. Among the remarkable objects in the vicinity of Palermo, pointed out to strangers, they fail not to particularize a convent o...

Chap. LVII: Curiosities respecting the Ark of Noah - The Galley of Hiero and the Bridge of Xerxes. ...

The Ark Of Noah: That such a wonderful structure as this once existed, admits not of any doubt in the Jewish, Christian, and Mahommedan world; yet its dimensions far exceed any vessel of modern date, even of the most ...

The Galley Of Hiero: It is to Hiero that Syracuse was indebted for those amazing machines of war, which the Syra-cusans made use of when besieged by the Romans. The public buildings, such as palaces, temples, arsenals, et...

Xerxes' Bridge Of Boats Over The Hellespont: Xerxes, having resolved to attack Greece, that he might omit nothing which could contribute to the success of his under-taking, entered into an alliance with the Carthaginians, who were, at that time,...

Basaltic And Rocky Curiosities: Giant's Causeway - Stonehenge. ...

Giant's Causeway, in Ireland: Giant's Causeway, in Ireland. - The following account is taken from notes of a mineralogical excursion to the Giant's Causeway, by the Rev. Dr. Grierson, as published in the Annals of Philosophy. ...

Stonehenge: Stonehenge, - a celebrated monument of antiquity, stands in the middle of a flat area, near the summit of a hill six miles from Salisbury. It is inclosed by a circular double bank and ditch near thirt...

Curiosities Respecting The Various Customs Of Mankind: Curious Demonstrations of Friendship - Singularities of different Nations in Eating - Female Beauty and Ornaments - Various Modes of Salutation - Maiden - Lady of the Lamb - Curious Custom respecting ...

Curious Demonstrations Of Friendship: The de-monstrations of friendship in a rude state have a savage and gross character, which it is not a little curious to observe. The Tartars pull a man by the ear to press him to drink, and they cont...

Singularities Of Different Nations In Eating: The Maldivian islanders eat alone. They retire into the most hidden parts of their houses; when they draw down the cloths that serve as blinds to their windows, that they may eat unobserved. This cust...

Female Beauty and Ornaments: Various are the opinions and customs of mankind with respect to Female Beauty and Ornaments, - as will be perceived from the following prejudices of different nations. The ladies in Japan gild thei...

Various Modes Of Salutation: The reader will be amused with the following account of the various modes of salutation When men, says the compiler of L'Esprit des Usages et des Coutumes, salute each other in an amicable manner, ...

The Maiden: This term is applied to an ancient English custom, or, more properly, to an instrument for beheading criminals; of the use and form of which Mr. Pennant gives the following account: It seems to have ...

Other Customs: Lady Of The Lamb At Kidlington, in Oxfordshire, there is a custom, that on the next Monday after Whitsun-week, there is a fat live lamb provided, and the maids of the town, having their thumbs tied...

Chap. LX: Marriage Ceremonies of different Nations - Marriage Custom of the Japanese - Bacon Flitch Custom at Dunmow, Essex - On the Origin of Rings in general - Matrimonial Ring - Extraordinary Marriage Custom...

Marriage Ceremonies Of Different Nations: Marriage ceremonies vary in different countries, and at different times. Where the practice is to purchase a wife, whe-ther among savages, or among luxurious people in hot climates, payment of the pri...

Marriage Custom Of The Japanese: A very singular custom at the marriages of the Japanese, is, that the teeth of the bride are made black by some corrosive liquid. The teeth remain black ever after, and serve to show that a woman is m...

Bacon Flitch Custom at Dunmow, Essex: Bacon Flitch Custom at Dunmow, Essex. - Many persons who are so often jocular about a certain Flitch of Bacon, with those who are supposed to be in a much happier state than themselves, are not alwa...

The Origin of Rings: The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of libe rality, esteem, and friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to wear any, except given to him from the king himself. Th...

Hand-Fasting: We shall conclude this chapter with an account of an ancient custom, called Hand-Fasting. This custom formerly took place at an annual fair, in the parish of Eskdale-muir, in Dumfriesshire, thus de...

Chap. LXI: Funeral Ceremonies of the Ancient Ethiopians - Funeral Ceremonies of the Chinese - Ancient Funeral Ceremonies of the Dajakkese - Ancient Modes of Mourning - Feasts among the Ancients of various Nation...

Funeral Ceremonies Of The Ancient Ethiopians: The Ethiopians had very particular ceremonies in their funerals. According to Ctesias, after having salted the bodies, they put them into a hollow statue of gold, which resembled the deceased, and are...

Funeral Ceremonies Of The Chinese: The funeral ceremonies are considered by the Chinese as the most important of any. A few moments after a person has expired, he is dressed out in his richest attire, and adorned with every badge of hi...

Funeral And Marriage Ceremonies Of The Dajakkese Inhabitants Of Borneo: The corpse is placed in a coffin, and remains in the house till the son, the father, or the nearest of blood, can procure or purchase a slave, who is beheaded at the time that the corpse is burnt, in ...

Ancient Modes Of Mourning: Amongst the ancient Jews, on the death of their relations or intimate friends, mourning was expressed by weeping, tearing their clothes, smiting their breasts, or lacerating them with their nails, pul...

Feasts Among The Ancients Of Various Nations: All nations, whether savage or civilized, have regarded the pleasures of the table as the occasion of the most agreeable society. This species of enjoyment (abstracted from its susceptibility of abuse...

Feasts Among The Ancients Of Various Nations. Part 2: As to the drink used at those feasts, particularly in Britain it seems probable, that before the introduction of agriculture into the island, mead, or honey diluted with water, was the only strong liq...

Feasts Among The Ancients Of Various Nations. Part 3: The coronation feast of Edward III. cost £2835. 18s. 2d. equivalent to about £40,000 of our money. At the installation of Ralph, abbot of St. Augustine, Canterbury, A. D. 1309, 6000 guests were entert...

The Feast Of Lanterns: In China, this is a celebrated festival, held from the thirteenth to the sixteenth day of the first month; so called from the immense number of lanterns hung out of the houses and streets; which, it i...

Chap. LXII: Origin Of The Sheriff's Counting Hobnails - Origin Of The Order Of The Garter - Origin And History Of The Claim And Allowance Of The 'Benefit Of Clergy' In Criminal Convictions - Curious Tenures - The...

Origin Of The Sheriff's Counting Hobnails: This is not an absurd custom of antiquity, such as nobody knows when it begun, or why it is continued; but it originated from the following circumstances:In former times, when money was very scarce, a...

Origin Of The Order Of The Garter: This is variously related by historians. The common and not improbable account is, that the Countess of Salisbury, happening at a ball to drop her garter, the King took it up, and presented it to her ...

Origin and History of the Claim and Allowance of the 'Benefit of Clergy' in Criminal Convictions: The following learned dissertation is extracted from 'Chit-ty's Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law.' By far the most important circumstance intervening between conviction and judgment, is the ...

the Claim and Allowance of the 'Benefit of Clergy' in Criminal Convictions. Continued: The clerical process being thus abolished, it was thought proper, at the same time, to empower the temporal judges to inflict a further punishment where they should regard it as proper. The eighteent...

Curious Tenures: A farm at Broadhouse, in Langsett, in the parish of Peniston, and county of York, pays yearly to Godfrey Bosville, Esq. 'a snow-ball at Midsummer, and a red rose at Christmas.' William de Albermarl...

The Origin Of May Poles And Garlands: It was a custom among the ancient Britons, before they were converted to Christianity, to erect May-poles, adorned with flowers, in honour of the goddess Flora; and the dancing of milkmaids on the fir...

Curious Custom At Oakham: Oakham is remarkable for the following curious custom. Every peer of the realm, the first time he comes within the precincts, forfeits a shoe from his horse to the lord of the manor and castle, unless...

Chap. LXIII: Shrovetide - Candlemas Day - Origin of Valentine's Day - Origin of Plough Monday - New Year's Gifts - Origin Of Christmas Boxes - Chiltern Hundreds - Origin of the Tern John Bull - Origin of the Old...

Shrovetide: Shrovetide, - in its original meaning, signifies the time of confessing sins to a priest. Tide refers to time; and shrove, shrive, or shrift, are derived from the Saxon, and signify confession. In the...

Candlemas Day: This is the feast of the purification, which was formerly celebrated with many lights in churches. The custom of going in procession on Candlemas-day with lighted candles in the hand, is said to have ...

Valentine's Day: Valentine was a pope, or bishop of Rome, that lived in the ninth century; who, on this day, established an annual custom of the poorer clergy drawing patrons by lots for the commenced year; and these ...

Plough-Monday: This day is held on the ninth of Janu ary, the Monday after Twelfth-day. The ploughmen, in the north country, draw a plough from door to door, and beg money for drink; from whence this took its name. ...

New Year's Gifts: Nonius Marcellus refers the origin of New Year's Gifts among the Romans to Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines, who reigned at Rome conjointly with Romulus, and who, having considered as a good omen a p...

Chiltern Hundreds: Frequent mention is made of members of parliament accepting the Chiltern Hundreds The following is the explanation:The Chiltern Hundreds are hundreds, or divisions of counties parcelled out by the wis...

Origin Of The term John Bull: Origin of the term John Bull. - Dr. John Bull was the first Gresham professor of music, and organist and composer to Queen Elizabeth. John, like a true Englishman, travelled for improvement; and hav...

Origin of the Old Adage, "If it rains on Saint Smithin's Day, it will rain for Forty Days afterwards.": In the year 805, St. Swithin, bishop of Winchester, dying, was canonized by the then pope. He was singular in his desire to be buried in the open church-yard, and not in the chancel of the minister, a...

Curfew Bell: The curfew bell (called, in the low Latin of the middle ages, ignitegium, or peritegiun, and in French, couvrefew) was a signal for all persons to extinguish their fires at a certain hour. In those ag...

Ancient Religions: It is manifest that the first fostering of the religious spark is derived from the phenomena of the sensible world. The attention of man and the sense of his weakness is early awakened - yet at first,...

National Religion. Priests. Fables: All the religions of the ancient paganism may be reduced to one or the other of these classes; yet their characters are nowhere to be found unmixed, and the distinction can be made only according to t...

Mysteries And Oracles: Besides the prevailing national religion and the general worship of the ancients, there existed almost everywhere a secret doctrine, which was either communicated by priests, likewise to a small circl...

Curious Account Of An Expiatory Penance At Calcutta: About a mile from the town is a plain, where the natives annually undergo a very strange kind of penance on the 9th of April; some for the sins they have committed, others for those they may commit, a...

On The Ignis Fatuus: - A wand'ring fire Compact of unctuous vapour, which the night Condenses, and the cold environs round, Kindled through agitation to a flame, (Which oft, they say, some evil spirit attends,...

On The Ignis Fatuus. Part 2: Of the same kind also, most probably, are those small luminous appearances which sometimes appear in houses, or near them, called, in Scotland, Elf-candles, and which are supposed to portend the death...

On The Ignis Fatuus. Part 3: In the Appendix to Dr. Priestley's third volume of Experiments and Observations on Air, Mr. Warltire gives an account of some very remarkable ignes fatui, which he observed on the road to Bromsgrove, ...

Chap. LXVI: Extraordinary Properties and Effects of Lighting - Thunder Rod - Fire Balls - Terrible Effects of Electrified Clouds - Surprising Effects of extreme Cold - Astonishing Expansive Force of Freezing. ...

Extraordinary Properties And Effects Of Lightning: A very surprising property of lightning of the zigzag kind, especially when near, is, its seeming omnipresence. If two persons are standing in a room looking different ways, and a loud clap of thunder...

Thunder Rod: Dr. Franklin has demonstrated the iden-tity of thunder with the electric explosion. He availed himself of many curious discoveries which he had made of electrical laws: in particular, having observed ...

Terrible Effects Of Electrified Clouds: The most extraordinary instance of this kind perhaps on record, hap-pened in the island of Java, in the East Indies, in August, 1772. On the 11th of that month, at midnight, a bright cloud was observe...

Surprising Effects Of Extreme Cold: By extreme degrees of cold, trees are burst, rocks rent, and rivers and lakes frozen several feet deep: metallic substances blister the skin like red-hot iron: the air, when drawn in by respiration, h...

Astonishingly Expansive Force of Freezing Water: - Although cold, in general, contracts most bodies, and heat expands them, yet there are some instances to the contrary, especially in the extreme cases or states of these qualities of bodies. Thus, t...

Chap. LXVII: Water Spout - Fata Morgana - Fairy Rings - Sheet of Phosphoric Fire - Phosphorus - Every object of creation Can furnish hints to contemplation. Gay. ...

Water Spout: This extraordinary meteor is most fre-quently observed at sea. It generally begins by a cloud, which appears very small, and which is called, by sailors, the Squall. This augments in a little time int...

Fata Morgana: This is a very remarkable aerial phenomenon, which is sometimes observed from the harbour of Messina, and adjacent places, at a certain height in the atmosphere. The name, which signifies the Fairy Mo...

Fairy Rings: Fairy Rings, - are circles of dark green grass frequently observed in old pastures; they have long been known under the name of fairy rings, and have generally been supposed to be occasioned, in some ...

A Sheet Of Phosphoric Fire: A curious instance of this occurred to Monsieur Peron, in his voyage from Europe to the Isle of France. Between three and four degrees north latitude, during the obscurity of a night intensely dark, t...

Phosphorus: It may be not amiss to conclude this chapter with an account of that very curious substance, Phosphorus. - This singular production was accidentally discovered, in 1677, by an alchymist of Hamburgh, n...

Chap. LXVIII: Spots in the Sun - Diminution of the Sun - Parhelia, or Mock Suns - Eclipses - Halo, or Corona; and similar Appearances - Falling or Shooting Star - Volcanoes in the Moon. Hail, sacred source of in...

Spots In The Sun: The following account of the spots in the sun is taken from a French paper. The spots were seen for the first time in 1611; and nearly about the same time by J. Fabricius, at Wittenberg, by the Je...

Diminution Of The Sun: Baron Lindeneau, who recently published a work on the diminution of the solar mass says, that the sun may have been imperceptibly subject to successive diminution since the science of astronomy has be...

Observations On Eclipses Of The Sun And Moon: Give me the ways of wand'ring stars to know, The depths of heav'n above and earth below; Teach me the various labours of the Moon, And whence proceed th' Eclipses of the Sun. Virg. Georg. ll ...

The Halo, or Corona: We now proceed to describe The Halo, or Corona; and similar Appearances. - An Halo is a luminous circle surrounding the sun, moon, planets, or fixed stars. Occasionally these circles are white, and so...

Falling Star Or Shooting Star: This is a luminous meteor, darting rapidly through the air, and resembling a star falling from the heavens. The explication of this phenomenon had puzzled all philosophers, till the modern discoveries...

Three Volcanoes in the Moon: We close this chapter with An Account of Three Volcanoes in the Moon; by Dr. Herschel. It will be necessary to say a few words by way of introduction to the account I have to give of some appearan...

The Aurora Borealis: - Silent from the north Ablaze of meteors shoots: ensweeping first The lower skies, they all at once converge High to the crown of heav'n, and all at once Relapsing quick, as quickly reasc...

The Aurora Borealis. Continued: A person who resided seven years at Hudson's Bay, confirms M. Gmelin's relation of the fine appearance and brilliant colours of the northern lights, and particularly of their rushing noise, which he a...

Chap. LXX. Curiosities Respecting Galvanism: Nature, exhaustles still, lias power to warm, And every change presents a novel charm. Galvani, a professor of anatomy in the university of Bologna, was one day making experiments on electricity....

Chap. LXXI. Curiosities Respecting Magnetism: Almighty Cause! 'tis thy preserving care That keeps thy works for ever fresh and fair: Hence life acknowledges its glorious Cause, And matter owns its great Disposer's laws; Hence flow the...

Chap. LXXI. Curiosities Respecting Magnetism. Continued: Previously to earthquakes, as well as during their action, and while the northern lights are in full display, no reliance can be placed on the compass; the card of which will appear much agitated. Thi...

Curiosities Respecting The Arts, Etc: Early Invention of several useful Arts - Automaton - Androides - Extraordinay Pieces of Clockwork - Heidelberg Clock - Strasburg Clock - Clepsydra - invention of Watches. What cannot art and indust...

Early Invention Of Several Useful Arts: Some useful arts must be nearly coeval with the human race; for food, clothing, and habitation, even in their original simplicity, require some display of ingenuity. Many arts are ol such antiquity as...

Description Of An Automaton: This is a machine, so constructed by means of weights, levers, springs, wheels, etc. as to move for a considerable time, as if it were endued with animal life. According to this definition, clocks, wa...

Androides: This is an automaton, in the figure of a man, which, by virtue of certain springs, etc. duly contrived, walks, and performs other external functions of a man. Albertus Magnus is recorded as having mad...

Extraordinary Pieces Of Clock-Work: Amongst the modern clocks, those at Strasburg and Lyons are very eminent for the richness and variety of their furniture, and for their motions and figures. In the former, a cock claps his wings, and ...

Heidelberg Clock: At Heidelberg, in Germany, upon the town-house, was a clock with divers motions; and when the clock struck, the figure of an old man pulled off his hat, a cock crowed, and clapped his wings, soldiers ...

Strasburg Clock: At Strasburg, there is a clock, of all others the most famous, invented by Conradus Dasipodius, in the year 1573. Before the clock stands a globe on the ground, showing the motions of the heavenly bod...

Clepsydra, A Water-Clock: Clepsydra - is a water-clock, or instrument to measure time by the fall of a certain quantity of water, and is constructed on the following principles. - Suppose a cylindrical vessel, whose charge of ...

The Invention Of Watches: The invention of spring or pocket watches belongs to the 17th century. It is true, we find mention made of a watch presented to Charles V. in the history of that prince: but this, in all probability, ...

Chap. LXXIII: Telegraph - Spectacle of a Sea Fight at Rome - Wooden Eagle; and iron Fly - Whitehead's Ship - Scaliot's Lock, etc. - Praxi-teles' Venus - Weaving Engine - Hydraulic Birds - Herschell's Grand Telescop...

Telegraph: This is a word derived from the Greek, and which is very properly given to an instrument, by means of which information may be almost instantaneously conveyed to a considerable distance. The telegraph...

A Spectacle Of A Sea Fight At Rome: Augustus, to divert his mind from fixing on his domestic misfoitunes, exhibited the most magnificent and expensive shows that had ever been seen at Rome. Chariot-races in the circus, representations, ...

A Wooden Eagle, and an Iron Fly: A Wooden Eagle, and an Iron Fly. - Petrus Ramus tells us of a Wooden Eagle and an Iron Fly, made by Regio-montanus, a famous mathematician at Nuremberg: whereof the first flew forth out of the city, a...

Whitehead's Ship: George Whitehead, an Englishman, made a ship, with all her tackling, to move itself on a table, with rowers plying the oars, a woman playing on the lute, and a little whelp crying on the deck, - says ...

Scaliot's Lock: Scaliot's Lock, etc. - In the twentieth year of Queen Elizabeth, Mark Scaliot, a blacksmith, made a lock, consisting of eleven pieces of iron, steel, and brass, all which, together with a pipe-key to ...

Praxiteles' Venus: Praxiteles, who was an ingenious worker in imagery, made a statue of Venus for the Cnidians, so much resembling life, that a certain young man became enamoured of it to such a degree, that the excess ...

A Weaving Engine: At Dantzic in Poland, there was set up a rare invention for weaving four or five webs at a time, without any human help. It was an engine that moved of itself, and would work night and day. This inven...

Hydraulic Birds: At Tibur, in Tivoli, near Rome, in the gardens of Hippolitus d'Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, there are the representations of sundry birds sitting on the tops of trees, which, by hydraulic art, and secre...

Herschkll's Grand Telescope: The tube of this telescope is thirty-nine feet four inches in length, and four feet ten inches in diameter, every part being made of iron. It stands in the open air, appears to be considerably elevate...

Boverick's Curiosities: Mr. Baker, in his Treatise on the Microscope, says, I myself have seen, near Durham Yard, in the Strand, and have examined with my microscope, a chaise, (made by one Mr. Boverick, a watch-maker,) hav...

Bunzlau Curiosities: Mr. Adams, in his Letters on Silesia, gives the following account of two ingenious mechanics he met with at Bunzlau. Their names were Jacob, and Huttig; the one was a carpenter, the other a weaver, an...

Artificial Flying: The art of flying has been attempted by several persons in all ages. The Leucadians, out of superstition, are reported to have had a custom of precipitating a man from a high cliff into the sea, first...

Chap. LXXIV: Burning Glasses - Ductility of Glass - Remarkable Ductility and Extensibility of Gold - Pin Making - Needles - Shoes - The Great Bell of Moscow. Glass Blowing ...

Burning Glasses: We have some extraordinary instances and surprising accounts of prodigious effects of burning-glasses. Those made of reflecting mirrors are more powerful than those made with lenses, because the rays ...

Ductility Of Glass: We all know, that when glass is well penetrated with the heat of the fire, the workmen can figure and manage it like soft wax; but, what is most remarkable, it may be drawn, or spun out, into threads ...

Remarkable Ductility And Extensibility Of Gold: Gold is the most ductile, as well as the most malleable, of ail metals. According to Cronstedt, one grain of it may be stretched out so as to cover 98 Swedish ells, equal to 63.66 English yards of sil...

Pin-Making: Though pins are apparently simple, their manufacture is not a little curious and complex. When the brass wire, of which the pins are formed, is first received at the manufactory, it is generally too t...

The Manufacture Of Needles: We must not forget to present to the reader some curious particulars respecting the manufacture of needles Needles make a very considerable article in commerce, though there is scarcely any commodi...

Curiosities Respecting Shoes: Among the Jews, shoes were made of leather, linen, rush, or wood; those of soldiers were sometimes of brass or iron. They were tied with thongs, which passed under the soles of the feet. To put off th...

Great Bell of Moscow: Great Bell of Moscow. From Dr. Clarke's Travels.- The great bell of Moscow, known to be the largest ever founded, is in a deep pit in the midst of the Kremlin. The history of its fall is a fable; and...

Man With The Iron Mask: There was a remarkable personage, so denominated, who existed as a state prisoner in France during the latter part of the seventeenth century. The circumstances of this person form an historical enigm...

Man With The Iron Mask. Continued: Several writers have affirmed, that the body of this unfortunate personage was buried without a head; and M. de St. Foix informs us, in his Essais Historiques, that a gentleman having bribed the sext...

Gipsies: Mr. Lyons, in his entertaining work of the Environs of London, has given the following curious account of the Queen of the Gipsies, and the extraordinary people under her dominion. From the registe...

Free And Accepted Masons: This very ancient society is so called, either from some extraordinary knowledge of masonry, of which they are supposed to be masters, or because the first founders of the society were persons of this...

Chap. LXXVIII: Travelling Faquirs - Long absent Husband returned - Curious Historical Fact - The most Fxtraordinary Fact on Record. ...

The Travelling Faquirs: The following curious circumstance in natural history is related by a gentleman of veracity, learning, and abilities; who filled a considerable post in the Company's Service in India. The Travellin...

The Long Absent Husband returned: The Long Absent Husband returned: (From Dr. King's Anecdotes.) - About the year 1706, I knew, said Dr. King, one Mr. Howe, a sensible well-natured man, possessed of an estate of £700 or £800 per an...

A Curious Historical Fact: During the troubles in the reign of Charles I. a country girl came to London, in search of a place as a servant maid; but not succeeding, she hired herself to carry out beer from a brewhouse, and was ...

The Most Extraordinary Fact On Record: The following is said to be the most extraordinary fact on record In the appendix to the Rev. John Campbell's Travels in South Africa, is recorded one of the strangest occurrences in the moral anna...

Unfortunate Artificer: There was an artificer in Rome, who made vessels of glass of so tenacious a temper, that they were as little liable to be broken as those that are made of gold and silver: when therefore he had made a...

Chap. LXXIX: Great Events from Little Causes - Dreadful Instances of the Plague, in Europe - Fire of London - Vicar of Bray - Curious Account of the Ceremonies at Queen Elizabeth's Dinner - A Blacksmith's Wife bec...

Great Events From Little Causes: The most important events sometimes take place from little and insignificant causes. 1. Sir Isaac Newton's sublime genius, set a-going by the fall of an apple, never stopped till it had explained t...

Dreadful Instances Of The Plague, In Europe: Thucydides, lib. ii. gives an account of a dreadful plague which happened in Athens about B. C. 430, and with which he was himself infected, while the Pelononnesians under the command of Archidamus wa...

The Great Fire Of London: The following is part of the inscription on the Monument, which records this calamitous event The second day of September, 1666, at the distance of two hundred and two feet, the height of this colum...

Vicar Of Bray: Every one has frequently heard this reverend son of the church mentioned; probably his name may have outlived the recollection of his pious manoeuvres: he was in his principles a Sixtus the Fifth. The...

The Ceremonies at Queen Elizabeth's Dinner: The following Account of the Ceremonies at Queen Elizabeth's Dinner, deserves to be recorded. - A German traveller, (Hentzner) talking of Queen Elizabeth, thus describes the solemnity of her dinner. ...

A Blacksmith's Wife Become A Queen: It is a curious circumstance, that the present queen of the Sandwich islands, was formerly, or rather is at this time, the wife of a Russian blacksmith. An English vessel lying off what we usually cal...

The Swine's Concert: The abbot of Baigne, a man of great wit, and who had the art of inventing new musical instruments, being in the service of Louis XI. king of France, was ordered by that prince to get him a concert of ...

Chap. LXXX. Curiosities Of Literature: Origin of the Materials of Writing - Minute Writing - Titles of Books - Literary Labour and Perseverance - Curious Account of the Scarcity of Books - Celebrated Libraries - Book of Blunders - Curious ...

Origin Of The Materials Of Writing: The most an cient mode of writing was on bricks, and on tables of stone, afterwards on plates of various materials, on ivory, on the bark of trees, and on their leaves. Specimens of most of these m...

Minute Writing: Curious information respecting small, or Minute Writing.-The Iliad of Homer in a nut-shell, which Pliny says that Cicero once saw, it is pretended might have been a fact, however to some it may appear...

The Titles Of Books: We submit the following curious particulars respecting the titles of books The Jewish, and many Oriental authors, were fond of allegorical titles, which always shows the most puerrle age of taste. ...

Literary Labour And Perseverance: The Rev. William Davy, curate of Lustleigh, Devon, in the year 1807, finished a work in twenty-six volumes, of which the following is the title:A System of Divinity, in a Course of Sermons on the fir...

the Scarcity of Books: Curious account of the Scarcity of Books - Of the scarcity and value of books during the seventh and many subsequent centuries, the following curious account is given by Mr. Warton, in his History of ...

Celebrated Libraries: The first who erected a library at Athens was the tyrant Pisistratus. This was transported by Xerxes into Persia, and afterwards brought back by Seleucus Nicanor to Athens. Plutarch says, that under E...

Book Of Blunders: One of the most egregious, shall we add illustrious, of all literary blunders, is that of the edition of the Vulgate, by Sixtus V. His holiness carefully superintended every sheet as it passed through...

Means Of Intellectual Improvement In London: The following is an estimate made of the means of intellectual improvement in London. There are four hundred and seven places of public worship; four thousand and fifty seminaries for education, inclu...

Chap. LXXXI: Origin of the Word News - Origin of Newspapers - Instances of New Studies in Old Age - Literary Shoemakers - Imprisonment of the Learned - Singular Customs annually observed by the Company of Statio...

Origin Of Newspapers: We are indebted to the Italians for the idea of Newspapers. The title of the Gazettas, was perhaps derived from Gazzera, a magpie or chatterer; or more probably from a farthing coin, peculiar to the c...

Instances Of New Studies In Old Age: Socrates learnt to play on musical instruments in his old age; Cato, at eighty, thought proper to learn Greek; and Plutarch, almost as late in life, Latin. Theophrastus began his admirable work on ...

Literary Shoemakers: The fraternity of shoemakers have unquestionably given rise to some characters of worth and genius. The late Mr. Holcroft was originally a shoe-maker. His dramatic pieces must rank among the best of t...

Imprisonment Of The Learned: Imprisonment seems not much to have disturbed the men of letters in the progress of their studies. It was in prison that Boethius composed his excellent book on the Consolations of Philosophy. G...

Singular Custom Annually Observed By The Company Of Stationers: On the annual aquatic procession of the Lord Mayor of London to Westminster, the barge of the Company of Stationers, which is usually the first in the show, proceeds to Lambeth palace, where for time ...

Book Of Sports: A book, or declaration, drawn up by bishop Morton, in the reign of king James I. to encourage recreations and sports on the Lord's day. It was to this effect: That for his good people's recreation, h...

Origin Of Cards: About the year 1390, cards were invented, to divert Charles VI. then king of France, who was fallen into a melancholy disposition. That they were not in use before, appears highly probable, 1st. Be...

Of Cards Design: The inventor proposed, by the figures of the four suits, or colours, as the French call them, to represent the four states, or classes, of men in the kingdom By the Casars (Hearts) are meant the ge...

Explanation Of All The Letters On A Guinea: The Inscription on a Guinea runs thus: - GEORGIUS III. DEI GRATIA, M. B. F. ET H. REX, F. D B. ET L. D. S. R. I A. T. ET E. That is, - Georgius Tertius, Dei Gratia, Magna Brittannise, Fnnciae et Hi...

Chap. LXXXII: Curious Address to the late Queen Charlotte - Quaint Lines on Queen Elizabeth - Curious Names adopted in the Civil Wars - Curious Extracts from the Will of an Earl of Pembroke - Curious Letter from Po...

Curious Address To The Late Queen Charlotte: The Address of the Burgomaster, Magistrates, and Citizens of Strelitz, to her Royal Highness the Most Illustrious Princess Sophia Charlotte, Duchess of Mecklenburgh, Princess of Wenden, Schrouin, and...

Quaint Lines On Queen Elizabeth: Queen Elizabeth, who died at Greenwich, was brought thence to Whitehall by water, in a grand procession. On this occasion, as Camden informs us, the following quaint lines were written:The Queen was ...

Curious Names Adopted In The Civil Wars: Acuiious style of naming individuals was exceedingly common in the time of the civil wars. It was said that the genealogy of our Saviour might be learned from the names in Cromwell's regiments. The mu...

Curious Extracts from the Will of an Earl of Pembroke: The reader will be amused with the following Curious Extracts from the Will of an Earl of Pembroke. Imprimis. - For my soul; I confess I have heard very much of souls, but what they are, or whom t...

Curious Letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, to the Missionary Society: (Translation.) FRIENDS. Matavae, Otaheite, Jan. 1, 1807. I wish you every blessing, friends, in your residence in your country, with success in teaching this bad land, this Foolish land, this wi...

Curious Love Letter: Madam, - Most worthy of estimation! After long consideration, and much meditation, on the great reputation you possess in the nation, I have a strong inclination to become your relation. On your appro...

Creeds Of The Jews: The following piece is transcribed from the Common Prayer now in use among the Jews, and is entitled the Thirteen Creeds. It will give some idea of the theoretic branch of religion now prevailing amon...

The Unbeliever's Creed: I believe that there is no God, but that master is God, and God is matter, and that it is no matter whether there is any God or not. I believe, also, that the world was not made; that the world made ...

Explanation of the Terms "Whig" and "Tory.": Explanation of the Terms Whig and Tory. Burnet, who was contemporary with the introduction of these terms, gives the following account of the former:The south-west counties of Scotland have seldo...

Chap. LXXXIII. Miscellaneous Curiosities: Monster - Individuation - Reproduction - Peruke - Centaurs and Lapitha. ...

Monster: A birth or production of a living being, degenerating from the proper and usual disposition of parts in the species to which it belongs; as, when there are too many members, or too few; or some of the...

Individuation: Individuation, - is the unity of a thing with itself, or that whereby a thing is what it is. To begin with those species of body that are not properly organized, which have neither life nor sense, ...

Reproduction: The preceding article is naturally followed by reproduction. Reproduction is usually understood to mean the restoration of a thing before existing, and since destroyed. It is very well known that t...

Peruke: It appears that this term was originally applied to describe a fine natural head of long hair, and if this appellation had been retained, we should never have associated wigs with monsters. But whatev...

Centaurs And Lapithae: Under the reign of ixion, king of Thessaly, a company of bulls which fed upon Pelion ran mad, by which means the mountain was inaccessible. They also descended into the inhabited parts, ruining the tr...

Chap. LXXXIV: Spontaneous Inflammation - Diseases peculiar to Particular Countries - Injuries from Swallowing the Stones of Fruits - Extraordinary Surgical Operation - Extraordinary Cures by Burning - Illumination ...

Spontaneous Inflammation: A paper on this subject, which appeared in the Repertory of Arts, vol. ii. p. 425, induced the Rev. W. Tooke to publish some remarks in vol. iii. p. 95, of that work, from which the following is an ex...

Diseases Peculiar To Particular Countries: The inhabitants of particular places are peculiarly subject to particular diseases, owing to their manner of living, or to the air and effluvia of the earth and waters. Hoffman has made some curious o...

Injuries From Swallowing The Stones Of Fruits: The dangers arising from swallowing the stones of plums and other fruits are very great. The Philosophical Transactions give an acount of a woman who suffered violent pains in her bowels for thirty ye...

Extraordinary Surgical Operation: The most sur-prising and honourable operation of surgery ever performed, was, without any contradiction, that executed by M.Richerand, by taking away a part of the ribs and of the pleura. The patient...

Extraordinary Cures By Burning: The following case is recorded in the memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, by M. Homberg. A woman, of about thirty-five, became subject to a headach, which at times was so violent, that it drove her ou...

Illumination By Electricity: Professor Meinecke, of Hallchas, in Gilbert's Annals, 1819, Number 5, proposed to illuminate halls, houses, and streets, by the electric spark; and expresses his strong persuasion that one day it will...

Divisibility Of Matter: We may be readily convinced of the infinite divisibility of bodies, by simply walking in a garden, and inhaling the sweet incense that rises from a thousand flowers. How inconceivably small must be th...

Chap. LXXXV: The Jew's Harp - Remarkable Aqueducts - Crichup Linn - Eddy-stone Rocks - Dismal Swamp - Curious Wine Cellar - Mint of Segovia - Remarkable Mills - Silk Mill at Derby - Portland Vase - Murdering Statu...

The Jew's Harp: The Jew's trump, or Jew's harp, as it is often called, though now a boy's instrument, is of ancient origin, for Mr. Pennant informs us, (Tour to Scotland, p. 195,) that one made of gilt brass was foun...

Remarkable Aqueducts: Aqueducts are conveyances for carrying water from one place to another; made on uneven ground, to preserve the level. Aqueducts of every kind were long ago the wonders of Rome; the vast quantity of th...

Crichup Linn: This is a very beautiful cascade, formed by the rivulet Crichup, in Berwickshire. It falls over a precipice about eighty-five or ninety feet high, and almost perpendicular. About a half a mile below t...

Eddystone Rocks: This is the name of some rocks in the English Channel, so called from the variety of contrary currents in their vicinity. They are situated nearly S. S. W. from the middle of Plymouth Sound, their dis...

Dismal Swamp: Dismal Swamp, - is a morass in North America, reaching from Albermarle Sound, in North Carolina, to the neighbourhood of Portsmouth, on the opposite side of the harbour to Norfolk. It is supposed to c...

Curious Wine Cellar: The monastery of Arcadi, in Candia, surpasses every other part of the island, though fertile in religious houses, both in the number of monks, and the endowment of the convents. It is supposed to be b...

Mint Of Segovia: At the mint of Segovia, in Spain, there is an engine moved by water, but so artificially made, that one part of it distends an ingot of gold into the breadth and thickness requisite to make coin. It ...

Remarkable Mills: At Dantzic, a city of Prussia, Mr. Morris on an ingenious traveller of this nation, saw a mill, which, without help of hands, did saw boards, having an iron wheel, which did not only drive the saw, bu...

Silk Mill At Derby: This mill, situated on the river Derwent, was erected by Sir T. Loombe, who, at a vast expense and great hazard, brought the model from Italy. It is fixed in a large house, six stories high, and consi...

Portland Vase: This is a celebrated funeral vase, which was long in the possession of the Baberini family; but which was some years since purchased for 1000 guineas by the duke of Portland, from whom it has derived ...

Murdering Statue: Kenith, king of Scotland, had slain Cruthlintus the son, and Malcolmus Duffus the king and kinsman of Fenelia: she, to be revenged of the murderer, caused a statue to be framed with admirable art. In ...

A Curious Pulpit: The pulpit of the grand parochial church at Brussels, a curious production of Henry Verbruggen, of Antwerp,, is placed in the middle of the nave. At the base are Adam and Eve, large as life, the expel...

Chap. LXXXVI: Extraordinary Echoes, and Whispering Places - Natural Productions resembling Artificial Compositions - Remarkable Lamps. - Perpetual Fire - Magical Drum - An Extraordinary Cannon.- Curious Account of ...

Extraordinary Echoes and Whispering Places: These are places where a whisper, or other low sound, may be heard from one part to another, to a great distance. They depend on a principle, that the voice, etc. being applied to one end of an arch, ...

Knout: This is a punishment inflicted in Russia, with a kind of whip called knout, and made of a long strap of leather prepared for this purpose. With this whip the executioners dexterously carry a slip of s...

Natural Productions Resembling Artificial Compositions: Some stones are preserved by the curious, for representing distinctly figures traced by Nature alone, and without the aid of Art. Pliny mentions an agate, in which appeared, formed by the hand of N...

Remarkable Lamps: Cedrenus makes mention of a lamp, which, together with an image of Christ, was found at Edessa, in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. It was set over a certain gate there, and privily enclosed, as ap...

Perpetual Fire: In the peninsula of Abeheron, in the province of Schirwan, formerly belonging to Persia, but now in Russia, there is found a perpetual, or as it is there called, an eternal fire. It rises, and has ris...

Magical Drum: This is an instrument of superstition, used in Lapland, which is thus described by Schoeffer, in his History of that country: It is made of beech, pine, or fir, split in the middle, and hollowed on th...

An Extraordinary Cannon: At Kubberpore-na-Jeal, in India, there is a cannon two hundred and thirteen inches long, sixty-six inches round the muzzle, and eighteen inches round the calibre. It has five, and had originally six, ...

Curious Account of Old Bread: Old Bread - Bartholinus assures us, that in Norway the inhabitants make bread which keeps thirty or forty years; and that they are there fonder of their old hard bread, than others are of new or soft;...

A Substitute For Spectacles: The following is said to be a substitute for spectacles A man, especially if accustomed to spend his time among books, would be much to be pitied, when his sight begins to fail, could he not in a g...

Winter Sleep Of Animals And Plants: The winter sleep is a very singular property of animals and plants; and, though it occurs daily before our eyes, we are not able to explain the phenomena with which it is attended. In cold countries, ...

Chap. LXXXVII: Lama - Nun - Mahometan Paradise - Opinions respecting Hell - London - Coins of the Kings of England - Coinage and Coins of the United States. ...

Lama: This is the sovereign pontiff, or rather god, of the Asiatic Tartars, inhabiting the country of Barantola. The lama is not only adored by the inhabitants of the country, but also by the kings of Tarta...

Some Particulars Respecting Nuns: A nun is a woman dedicated to the severer duties of religion, secluded in a cloister from the world, and debarred by a vow from the converse of men. When a woman is to be made a nun, the habit, veil, ...

Mahometan Paradise: The paradise of the Mahometans is said by them to be situated above the seven heavens, or in the seventh, and next under the throne of God; and, to express the amenity of the place, they tell us that ...

Opinions Respecting Hell: The hell of the ancient heathens was divided into two mansions: the one called Elysium, on the right hand, pleasant and delightful, appointed for the souls of good men; the other called Tartarus, on t...

London: This metropolis is unparalleled, in extent and opulence, in the whole habitable globe, except, perhaps, Pekin in China, Jeddo in Japan, and Houssa in Africa; which are all said to be larger. It com...

Coins Of The Kings Of England: The silver Penny which was first circulated during the Heptarchy, continued to be the general coin after the kingdom had been united under one head, and extends, in a continued series, from Egbert alm...

Coinage And Coins Of The United States: The principal Mint (or coin manufactory) in the United States is in Philadelphia, Pa. Another large one is in San Francisco, Cal. Nearly all the work is done by machinery, and that of the most ingenio...

Chap. LXXXVIII: The Five Human Races - Rome - Rome From The Capitol - Cologne Cathedral - Destruction Of The Bastile - Cleopatra's Barge - Jewish High-Priest - Invention of Printing, Indian Chief, Black Bu...

The Five Human Races: Ethnologists have generally divided human beings into five distinct classes. But although the primitive types are well and strongly marked, yet from amalgamation, climatic influences, and various othe...

Rome: Rome was founded in the year of the world 3230, in the third year of the 6th Olympiad, and in the seven hundred and fifty-third before the Christian era, on Mount Palatine. Rome is the principal, alth...

The Cologne Cathedral: On the 14th of August, 1880, the last stone of the great Domkirche of Cologne, the foundations of which were laid more than six hundred years ago, was put in its place, and the grandest conception of ...

The Destruction Of The Bastile Of Paris: This famous prison was originally the castle of Paris, and was built by order of Charles v., between the years 1370 and 1383, by Hugo Aubriot, Provost of Paris, at the Porte St. Antoine as a defense a...

Cleopatra's Barge: The vessel in which the lovely and luxurious Queen of Egypt floated upon the Nile, has been described by historians and portrayed by poets at various times. We give Shakespeare's account of it: Th...

Jewish High-Priest: While the Israelites had a remarkably high and pure conception of the spiritual attributes of Jehovah, their forms of worship were full of material observances, and their great law-giver, Moses, laid...

Invention Of The Art Of Printing: To the German nation belongs the glory of this salutary discovery. The true inventor of printing being John Guttenburg (called also Gansfleisch), of the equestrian family of Lorgenloch (born 1397(, wh...

Chap. LXXXIX: Dr. Tanner's Fast - Other Long Fasts - Scriptural Fasts - Human Work and Waste - Spirit Rappings - The Man Turtle - Mesmerism - Hypnotism - Ice Factories - Pulque - Celluloid - Petroleum or Rock Oil -...

Dr. Tanner's Great Fast: Dr. Tanner's Great Fast. - At noon, June 28, 1880, the first entry on the record book was made: Dr. Henry S. Tanner, aged 49, appeared in Clarendon Hall (New York City), this day to begin a forty day...

Other Long Fasts: Ann Moore, the famous fasting woman of Tutbury, pretended to have lived for eight years entirely without food. A Watch Committee was appointed, which detected the fraud in a very ingenious manner. The...

Scriptural Cases Of Long Fasting: Moses distinctly states: I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; 1 neither did eat bread nor drink water; and then upon his return to the mount, after breaking the first two tables of sto...

Human Work And Human Waste: Work means waste, equally to a human body and a locomotive engine. More work more waste, is a motto alike true of the mechanic's apparatus and of the mechanic himself. Not an action, we repeat, is p...

Spirit Rappings: In August, 1847, great excitement at Rochester, N. Y., and surrounding country was caused by mysterious knocks, noises, and peculiar and strange demonstrations. The first appearance of these knockings...

The Man-Turtle: The following truthful description of the Man-Turtle is from Geo. M. Payne, of Wabash, Ind.: In the almshouse of Cass County, Michigan, is a most wonderful freak of nature. This human monstrosity has ...

Mesmerism: Mesmerism, or animal magnetism as it was formerly called, first excited public notice about the middle of the last century, when several persons in different parts of Europe conceived that men are sen...

Hypnotism: Some seven hundred medical students assembled in the lecture hall of the New York University Medical College January 28, 1881, and listened to a lecture on Hypnotism, by Dr. William S. Hammond. Mesm...

Artificial Ice Factory: The factory of the Georgia Ice Company, at Atlanta, has on the ground floor, a boiler 50 feet long and 4 1/2 feet in diameter, containing 150 feet of 3 1/2-inch pipe. The boiler is kept filled with aq...

Pulque - The Mexican National Drink: In a letter from Mexico to the New York Sun, the writer says: This liquid is distilled from the maguey plant. It has a disagreeable smell and taste, but no description can possibly convey an adequate...

Celluloid: Celluloid, one of the most remarkable of modern inventions, bids fair to be not less extensively or variously used than vulcanized rubber. It is produced by mixing gum-camphor with gun-cotton, and sub...

Petroleum, or Rock Oil: Petroleum, or Rock Oil. - This is a liquid, inflammable substance, including benzole, naphtha, paraffine, asphatum, and various other articles. From time immemorial it has been found on the borders of...

Benzine: Among the many discoveries of the last quarter of a century, is that of a method of extracting this useful article by compression from coal-gas. It is a brilliant, colorless liquid, and smells strongl...

Chap. XC: The First Steamboat - Steamship Great Eastern - Ship Great Harry - Pacific Railroad- Great Trestle Bridge on Pacific R.R. - Great Sutro Tunnel - Flying Machine - Discovery of Gold. ...

Fulton's Steamboat: The first successful steamboat was built by Robert Fulton, a native of Pennsylvania, and called the Clermont. Mr. Fulton made his trial trip on the Hudson River, from New York to Albany, and thousands...

The Steamship "Great Eastern": The Steamship Great Eastern. - June 28, 1860, arrived at New York the English iron steamship Great Eastern, J. Y. Hall, commander, being the largest vessel ever constructed since Noah's Ark; it wa...

The Ship Great Harry: The Ship Great Harry. The Great Harry was the ship in which Henry VIII. sailed to France to meet Francis L on the memorable occasion of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. This picture repre...

The Pacific Railroad: The completion of the Great Pacific Railroad May 10,1869, was the grandest event of the nineteenth century. Its length, exclusive of branches, is over 2,000 miles, and crosses nine distinct mountain r...

Trestle Bridge On The Pacific Railroad: Wooden bridges have taken a high rank in modern engineering, and for boldness in their planning, united with mechanical simplicity and perfection, the United States enjoys the highest reputation. The ...

The Great Sutro Tunnel: As this wonderful engineering feat is accomplished, we give a few facts relating to it. This tunnel is intended to render easy the work of mining in the Comstock lode, which had become unprofitably ex...

Flying-Machine: In the year 1833 a model flying-machine was constructed by Rufus Porter, of New Britain, Conn., who kept experimenting, until about fourteen years later he produced a model propelled by steam, which h...

The Discovery Of Gold In California: In May, 1818, gold was discovered in California, at Sutter's Mill, near Sacramento, by James Marshall. The news soon spread over the State, and great excitement prevailed. All classes rushed to the mi...

Chap. XCI: New Mode of Telegraphy - The Telephone - The Photophone - The Phonograph - Electric Light - Elevated Railroads - Great Suspension Bridge, N. Y. City - Central Park, N. Y. City - Egyptian Obelisk (Cleo...

A New Mode Of Optic Telegraphy: The use of intermittent luminous signals in ships, lighthouses, etc., is now very general; and the common method is that of bringing a movable diaphragm before a steady source of light. Thus the light...

The Telephone: The Telephone; or, Articulating Telegraph. - In 1876 the first working instrument of this nature was introduced to the public. Its real merits were shown and fully proven before a large audience, by P...

The Photophone: This remarkable invention is own sister to the telephone. It means, to talk by light. The idea upon which it is founded is this: Certain substances are sensitive to light, and change their electric...

Edison's Phonograph: The phonograph, or sound-recorder, is a device for permanently recording and faithfully reproducing at any time or place all kinds of sounds, including those of the human voice. The speaking phonograp...

Electric Light: Since 1877 the subject of utilizing the re-cently discovered powers of electricity as an illuminating agent, has occupied the attention and employed the skillftu manipula tion of leading inventors and...

Elevated Railroads: The first of these roads built in New York City was known as the Ninth Avenue Road. At first it was a good deal ridiculed, but improvement succeeded improvement, until its utility became acknowledged....

The East River Suspension Bridge: This enormous structure, the foundations of which were laid in 1870, connects the cities of New York and Brooklyn. It far surpasses in all the elements of greatness any similar erection. The central s...

New York Central Park: This magnificent pleasure-ground equals any and surpasses most of a like nature. It covers eight hundred and forty-three acres. It is bounded by Fifth Avenue, 110th Street, Eighth Avenue and Fifty-nin...

The Egyptian Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle) In New York Central Park: At noon on the 22d of January, 1881, the huge monolith (single stone) from the banks of the Nile was lowered to its final resting-place on the knoll in Central Park. Lieutenant-Commander Gorringe's fa...

Mammoth Cave Of Kentucky: It is like trying to describe the indescribable to give any full idea of this the most extensive cavern in the world. Think of a subterranean city 400 feet under the surface, full of monuments, theate...

The Hot Springs Of Arkansas: The State of Arkansas has a most diversified surface and variety of soil and climate. In the northern section of the State all the productions of the Eastern States are successfully cultivated; apples...

Appendix To The Containing Curious Experiments, And Amusing Recreations, Which May Be Performed With Ease, And At A Small Expense: A Person having an even Number of Counters in one Hand, and an odd Number in the other, to tell in which hand each of them is. Desire the person to multiply the number in his right hand by three, a...

A Curious Recreation, Usually Called - The Blind Abbess And Her Nuns: A blind abbess visiting her nuns, who were twenty-four in number, and equally distributed in eight cells, built at the four corners of a square, and in the middle of each side, finds an equal number i...

How To Find The Difference Between Any Two Numbers, The Greater Of Which Is Unknown: Take as many 9's as there are figures in the less number, and subtract the one from the other. Let another person add that difference to the larger number; and then, if he take away the first figur...

A Curious Recreation With A Hundred Numbers, Usually Called The Magical Century: If the number 11 be multiplied by any one of the nine digits, the two figures of the product will always be alike, as appears from the following example:11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 123456789 11 22 3...

How To Make A Deaf Man Hear The Sound Of A Musical Instrument: It must be a stringed instrument, with a neck of some length, as a lute, a guitar, or the like; and before you begin to play, you must by signs direct the deaf man to take hold with his teeth of the e...

When Two Vessels Or Chests Are Like One Another, And Of Equal Weight, Being Filled With Different Metals, To Distinguish The One From The Other: This is easily resolved, if we consider that two pieces of different metals, of equal weight in air, do not weigh equally in water, because that of the greatest specific gravity takes up a lesser spac...

How To Find The Burden Of A Ship At Sea, Or In A River: It is a certain truth, that a ship will carry a weight equal to that of a quantity of water of the same bulk with itself; subtracting from it the weight of the iron about the ship, for the wood is of ...

How To Measure The Depth Of The Sea: Tie a great weight to a very long cord, or rope, and let it fall into the sea till you find it can descend no further, which will happen when the weight touches the bottom of the sea: if the quantity ...

Method Of Melting Steel, And Causing It To Liquefy: Heat a piece of steel in the fire, almost to a state of fusion, then holding it with a pair of pincers or tongs, take in the other hand a stick of brimstone, and touch the piece of steel with it: imme...

How To Dispose Two Little Figures, So That One Shall Light A Candle And The Other Put It Out: Take two little figures of wood or clay, or any other materials you please, only taking care that there is a little hole at the mouth of each: put in the mouth of one a few grains of bruised gunpowder...

The Camera Obscura, Or Dark Chamber: We shall here give a short description of this optical inven tion; for though it is very common, it is also very pleasing: but every one knows not how to construct it. Make a circular hole in the s...

How To Show The Spots In The Sun's Disk, By Its Image In The Camera Obscura: Put the object-glass of a ten or twelve feet telescope into the scioptric ball, and turn it about till it be directly opposite the sun: when the sun is directly opposite the hole, the lens will itself...

By The Means Of Two Plain Looking-Glasses, To Make A Face Appear Under Different Forms: Having placed one of the two glasses horizontally, raise the other to about right angles over the first; and while the two glasses continue in this posture, if you come up to the perpendicular glass, ...

How To Know Which Of Two Different Waters Is The Lightest, Without Any Scales: Take a solid body, the specific gravity of which is less than that of water, deal, or fir-wood, for instance, and put it into each of the two waters, and rest assured that it will sink deeper in the l...

How To Know If A Suspicious Piece Of Money Is Good Or Bad: If it be a piece of silver that is not very thick, as a crown, or half a crown, the goodness of which you want to try; take another piece of good silver, of equal balance with it, and tie both pieces ...

How To Hold A Glass Full Of Water With The Mouth Downwards, So That The Water Shall Not Run Out: Take a glass full of water, cover it with a cup that is a little hollow, inverting the cup upon the glass; hold the cup firm in this position with one hand, and the glass with the other; then with a j...

The Mysterious Watch: Desire any person to lend you his watch, and ask if he thinks it will or will not go when it is laid on the table: if he says it will, place it over the end of a magnet, and it will presently stop; t...

How To Make A Glass Of Water Appear To Boil And Sparkle: Take a glass nearly full of water, or other liquor, and setting one hand upon the foot of it to hold it fast, turn slightly one of the fingers of your other hand upon the brim or edge of the glass, (h...

How To Make A Cork Fly Out Of A Bottle,: Put a little chalk or pounded marble into a phial, and pour on some water, with about a third part of sulphuric acid, and put in a cork: in a few seconds, the cork will be sent off with great violence...

How To Produce Gas Light, On A Small Scale: Take an ordinary tobacco pipe, and nearly fill the bowl with small coals, and stop the mouth of the bowl with any suitable luting, as pipe-clay, or the mixture of sand and common clay, or, as clay is ...

Thunder Powder: Take separately, three parts of good dry saltpetre, two parts of dry salt of tartar, and pound them well together in a mortar; then add thereto one part, or rather more, of flour of brimstone, and tak...

How To Tell, By The Dial Of A Watch, At What Hour Any Person Intends To Rise: Let the person set the hand of the dial to any hour he pleases, and tell you what hour that is, and to the number of that hour you add, in your mind, 12. After this, tell him to call the hour the inde...

The Following Experiment Shows The Power Of Attraction: If we take two pieces of lead, as two musket or pistol balls, and with a knife smooth two plane surfaces, and press them together, they will firmly adhere. Two plates of metal made very smooth, whe...

Experiments To Show The Power Of Repulsion: Dip a ball in oil and put it in water; a ditch will be formed all round it. Pour water on oiled paper, and it will run off. Sprinkle water on a dusty floor, it rolls over it in globules Sprinkle it...

Experiments Respecting The Centre Of Gravity: The centre of gravity is that part of a body, round which all its parts are so equally balanced, that, if it be supported, the whole body will be so too. Take a book, and find, by trial, under what...

The Following Experiment Shows The Power Of Steam: Put a little water in a bottle, and cork it securely, covering it with sealing wax; then put the bottle into a kettle of water, and let it boil a short time, and the steam will force out the cork. ...

The Following Experiments Show The Pressure And Elasticity Of Air: Put an empty bottle with a cork in it near the fire; the cork will be driven out. Get a vessel of hot water, and put a phial into it, with the mouth downwards; the expanded air will bubble out. Let...

Experiments Respecting Sound: Hold a tumbler sideways, and sprinkle a little dust, of powder of any sort, on it; then strike the glass, and make it sound: - the dust keeps dancing about whilst the sound continues; stop the sound, ...

Electrical Experiments: If a piece of sealing-wax be rubbed briskly against the sleeve of your coat, or any other woollen substance, for some time, and then held within an inch or less of hair, feathers, bits of paper, or ot...

A Curious Experiment Made By Mr. Symmer, On The Electricity Of Silk Stockings: This gentleman having frequently observed, that on putting off his stockings in the evening, they made a crackling or snapping noise, and that in the dark they emitted sparks of fire, was induced to e...

How To Suspend A Ring By A Thread That Has Been Burnt: The thread having been previously soaked in chamber lye, or common salt and water, tie it to a ring, not larger than a wedding-ring. When you apply the flame of a candle to it, though the thread burn ...

Chemical Illuminations: Put into a middling-sized bottle, with a short wide neck, three ounces of oil or spirit of vitriol, with twelve ounces of common water, and throw into it, at different times, an ounce or two of iron f...

The Fiery Fountain: If twenty grains of phosphorus, cut very small, and mixed with forty grains of powdered zinc, be put into four drachms of water, and two drachms of concentrated sulphuric acid be added thereto, bubble...

A Lamp That Will Burn Twelve Months Without Replenishing: Take a stick of phosphorus, and put it into a large dry phial, not corked, and it will afford a light sufficient to discern any object in a room, when held near it. The phial should be kept in a cool ...

The Magic Oracle: Get six blank cards, and write on them figures, or numbers, exactly according to the following patterns You deliver the cards to a person, and desire him to thin...

Cheap And Easy Method Of Constructing A Voltaic Pile: Mr. Mitchell, in his useful little work on natural philosophy, proposes the following cheap and easy method of constructing a Voltaic Pile. Zinc is one of the cheapest of metals, and may be easily mel...

Magnetical Experiments: The magnetic attraction will not be destroyed by interposing obstacles between the magnet and the iron. Lay a small needle on a piece of paper, and put a magnet under the paper; the needle may be m...

Artificial Coruscations: There is a method of producing artificial coruscations, or sparkling fiery meteors, which will be visible not only in the dark but at noon-day, and that from two liquors actually cold. Fifteen grains ...

How To Make An Egg Enter A Phial Without Breaking: Let the neck of a phial be ever so strait, an egg will go into it without breaking, if it be first steeped in very strong vinegar, for in process of time the vinegar does so soften it, that the shell ...

Light Produced By Friction, Even Under Water: Rub two pieces of fine lump sugar together in the dark; the effect is produced, but in a much greater degree, by two pieces of silex, or quartz: but that which affords the strongest light of any thing...

Rosin Bubbles: The following account of a simple and curious experiment is extracted from a letter written by Mr. Morey, of Oxford, New Hampshire, to Dr. Silliman, the editor of the American Journal of Science and A...

A Curious Hydraulic Experiment, Called The Magical Bottle: Take a small bottle, (see Plate) AB, Fig. 9, the neck of which must be very narrow, and provide a glass vessel, CD, the height of which exceeds that of the bottle about two inches; fill the bottle, by...

Another Hydraulic Experiment, Called The Miraculous Vessel: Take a tin vessel of about six inches in height, and three in diameter, having a mouth of only a quarter of an inch wide, and in the bottom of the vessel make a number of small holes, of a size suffic...

A Curious Hydraulic Experiment, Called Tantalus's Cup: Take a glass, or any other vessel, (see Plate) ABCD, fig. 10. which has a small bent pipe, EFG, open at each end, running through the middle of it; then, if water or wine be poured into the glass, it ...

A Curious Chemical Experiment, Called The Tree Of Diana: Make an amalgam, without heat, of two drachms of leaf silver with one drachm of quicksilver. Dissolve this amalgam of two ounces, or a sufficient quantity, of pure nitrous acid of i moderate strength:...

A Remarkable Experiment, Called Prince Rupert's Drops: Take up a small quantity of the melted matter of glass with a tube, and let a drop of it fall into a vessel of water. This drop will have a small tail, which, being broken, the whole substance of the ...

How To Make Sympathetic Inks Of Various Kinds: By sympathetic inks, are meant those kinds of liquors, with which if any characters be written, they will remain invisible, till some method is used to give them a colour. The first class of these ...

Sympathetic Inks Of The First Class: Put some litharge into strong distilled vinegar, and let it stand for twenty-four hours; then strain it off, and, after it is quite settled, put it into a bottle closely corked, and preserve it for us...

Another Ink Of This Class: Dissolve bismuth in the nitrous acid, and any letters written with this ink will become quite black, by being exposed to the vapour of liver of sulphur, which is of so penetrating a nature, that it wi...

A Sympathetic Gold Ink Of The Second Class: Put as much gold into a small quantity of aqua-regia as will dissolve it, and then dilute it with two or three times as much distilled water. Also dissolve, in a separate vessel, fine pewter in aqu...

A Sympathetic Ink Of The Second Class: Dissolve fine silver in aqua-fortis, and add some distilled water to the solution, in the same manner as in the gold ink; then, whatever is written with this ink, will remain invisible for three or fo...

A Green Ink Of The Fifth Class: Take zaffre in powder, and let it remain dissolved in aqua-regia for twenty-four hours; after which pour the liquor off clear, and, adding to it as much common water, keep it in a bottle well corked. ...

A Curious Recreation, Called The Transcolorated Writing: Write on a paper, with a violet-coloured liquor, as many letters or words as you please, and ask any person which he will choose to have the writing, - yellow, green, or red. When he has made his choi...

A Remarkable Experiment, Called The Revivified Rose: Take a rose that is quite faded, and throw in some common sulphur in a chafing-dish of hot coal. Hold the rose over the fumes, and it will become quite white; then dip it into a basin of water, and gi...

How To Write On Glass By Means Of The Rays Of The Sun: Dissolve chalk in aqua-fortis, to the consistence of milk, and add to it a strong solution of silver; keep this liquor in a glass decanter, well stopped, and cutting out from a paper the letters you w...

How To Produce Different Colours, By Pouring A Colourless Liquor Into A Clean Glass: Take a strong solution of quicksilver, made with spirit of nitre; dilute it with water, and pour it into a hot glass, rinsed in strong spirit of sea-salt, and it will instantly become coloured. Or, if...

How To Produce A Colour Which Appears And Disappears By The Influence Of The Air: Put into a decanter some volatile spirit, in which you have dissolved copper filings, and you will have a fine blue tincture; and if the bottle be stopped, the colour will soon return again; and this ...

How To Turn A Colourless Liquor Black, By Adding A White Powder To It: Put a hot weak pellucid infusion of galls int a glass, and throw into it a grain of the vitriol of iron, calcined to whiteness, and considerably heated; then, as it falls to the bottom, it will make a...

Freezing Mixture: In the time of snow, a freezing mixture may easily be made, by mixing a little snow and common salt in a basin near the fire. If water in an iron cup or phial be put into this mixture, it will immedia...

Experiments With The Microscope: They who possess this amusing instrument, may easily per form with it a variety of pleasing experiments; among others, the following: - Leave some vinegar exposed in a saucer, for a few days, to the o...

Amusing Experiments With The Thermometer: A thermometer is amusing in a room, to enable us to know with accuracy the real degree of heat, as our own feelings are so very deceptive. According to their state of health at the time, different per...

Rules For Judging Of And Predicting The State Of The Weather By The Barometer: The rising of the mercury presages, in general, fair weather, and its falling, foul weather, as rain, snow, high winds, and storms. When the surface of the mercury is convex, or stands higher in th...

New Method Of Preserving Birds: (From the Annual Register.) When I receive a bird fresh taken, (says the author,) I open the venter, from the lower part of the breast-bone down to the anus, with a pair of scissars, and extract al...

How To Take The Impression Of The Wings Of A Butterfly In All Their Colours: Kill it without spoiling; cut off the body close to the wings, which contrive to spread in a flying position; then take a piece of white paper, wash part of it with thick gum-water; when dry, lay it o...

Curious Experiments Respecting Colours,: The following curious and useful remarks on the different degrees of heat imbibed from the sun's rays, etc. by cloths of different colours, were extracted from Experiments and Observations, by that ...

A Quantity Of Eggs Being Broken, To Find How Many There There Without Remembering The Number: An old woman, carrying eggs to market in a basket, met an unruly fellow, who broke them. Being taken before a magistrate, he was ordered to pay for them, provided the woman could tell how many she had...

How To Find The Least Number Of Weights, That Will Weigh From One Pound To Forty: This problem may be resolved by the means of the geometrical progression, 1,3,9, 27, 81, etc. the property of which is such, that the last, sum is twice the number of all the rest, and one more; so th...

How To Break A Stick Which Rests Upon Two Wine Glasses, Without Injuring The Glasses,: Take a stick, (see Plate,) AB. fig. 1, of about the size of a common broomstick, and lay its two ends, AB, which ought to be pointed, upon the edges of two glasses placed upon two tables of equal heig...

A Number Of Metals Being Mixed Together In One Mass, To Find The Quantity Of Each Of Them: Vitruvius, in his Architecture, reports, that Hiero, king of Sicily, having employed an artist to make a crown of pure gold, which was designed to be dedicated to the gods, suspected that the goldsmit...

How To Make A Mutual Exchange Of The Liquor In Two Bottles, Without Using Any Other Vessel: Take two bottles, which are as nearly equal as possible, both in neck and belly, and let one be filled with oil, and the other with water; then clap the one that is full of water dexterously upon the ...

How To Make A Peg That Will Exactly Fit Three Different Holes: Let one of the holes be circular, the other square, and the third an oval; then it is evident, that any cylindrical body, of a proper size, may be made to pass through the first hole perpendicularly; ...

How To Place Three Sticks, Or Tobacco Pipes, Upon A Table, In Such A Manner That They May Appear To Be Unsupported By Any Thing But Themselves: Take one of the sticks, or pipes, (see Plate,) AB, fig. 2, and place it in an oblique position, with one of its ends, B, resting on the table; then put one of the other sticks, as CD, across this in s...

How To Prevent A Heavy Body From Falling, By Adding Another Heavier Body To It On That Side Towards Which It Inclines: On the edge of a shelf, or table, or any other horizontal surface, lay a key, (see Plate,) CD, fig. 3, in such a manner, that, being left to itself, it would fall to the ground; then, in order to prev...

How To Lift Up A Bottle With A Straw, Or Any Other Slight Substance: Take a straw, (see Plate,) AB, fig. 5, which is not broken or bruised, and bend one end of it into a sharp angle ABC; then if this end of the straw be put into the bottle, so that the bent part of it ...

How To Make A Cone, Or Pyramid, Move Upon A Table Without Springs, Or Any Other Artificial Means: Take a cone, or pyramid, of paper, or any other light sub-stance, and put a beetle, or some such small insect, privately under it; then, as the animal will naturally endeavour to free itself from its ...

How To Make A Pen, Which Holds One Hundred Sheep, Hold Double The Number, By Only Adding Two Hurdles More: In the first pen, or that which holds one hundred sheep, the hurdles must be so disposed, that there shall be only one at the top and bottom, and the rest in equal numbers on each side; then it is obv...

An Ingenious Recreation, Called The Two Communicative Busts: Take two heads of plaster of Paris, and place them on pedestals on the opposite sides of a room. Then take a tin tube, of an inch in diameter, and let it pass from the ear of one head through the pede...

Another Recreation Of The Same Kind, Called The Oracular Head: Place a bust on a pedestal in the corner of a room, and let there be two tubes, one of which goes from the mouth, and the other from the ear of the bust, through the pedestal and floor, to an under ap...

How To Make A Piece Of Metal, Or Any Other Heavy Body, Swim Upon The Surface Of Water, Like A Cork: The specific gravity of water is inferior to the of metals, and consequently water, absolutely speaking, cannot support a ball of iron or lead; but if this ball be flattened, and beat out to a very th...

A Curious Experiment, To Prove That Two And Two Do Not Make Four: Take a glass vessel with a long narrow neck, which, being filled with water, will hold exactly a quart; then put into this vessel a pint of water, and a pint of acid of vitriol, and you will presently...

An Ingenious Method Of Secret Writing, By Means Of Corresponding Spaces: Take two pieces of pasteboard, or stiff paper, out of which cut a number of oblong figures, at different distances from each other, as in the following example. Keep one of these pieces for yourself, ...

A Curious Experiment, Which Depends On An Optical Illusion: On the bottom of the vessel, (see Plate,) A1BD, fig. 6, place three pieces of money, as a half-crown, a shilling, and a sixpence; the first at E, the second at F, and the third at G. Then let a person...

Another Curious Experiment, Called Optical Subtraction,: Against the wainscot of a room fix three small pieces of paper, as A, B, C, fig. 7, (see Plate,) about a foot and a half or two feet asunder, at the height of your eye; and placing yourself directly b...

An Optical Experiment, Showing How To Produce An Artificial Rainbow: In any room which has a window facing the sun, suspend a glass globe, filled with water, by a string which runs over a pulley, so that the sun's rays may fall directly upon it; then drawing the globe ...

An Artificial Rainbow May Also Be Produced As Follows: Take some water in your mouth, and turn your back to the sun; then if it be blown forcibly out against some dark or soady place, you will see the drops formed by the beams of the sun into an apparent ...

A Curious Optical Illusion, Produced By Means Of A Concave Mirror: Take a glass bottle, (see Plate,) ABC, fig. 8, and fill it with water to the point B; leave the upper part, BC, empty, and cork it in the common manner; place this bottle opposite a concave mirror, an...

How To Make A Violent Tempest, By Means Of Artificial Rain And Hail: Make a hollow cylinder of wood, very thin at the sides, about eight or ten inches long, and two or three feet in diameter. Divide its inside into five equal partitions, by means of boards of about six...

Thermometer Or A Scale Of The Progress Of Temperance And Intemperance: Liquors, with their Effects in their usual Order. Temperance Water..........}| Health, Wealth. Milk and Water Serenity and Composure of Mind. Small Beer...... Reputation, Long Life, ...

Headaches Begone! A Systemic Approach To Healing Your Headaches

Don't Let Your Bike Seat Ruin Your Sex Life Book

A Library Of Wonders And Curiosities Found In Nature And Art, Science And Literature | I. Platt

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